Reckonings and Retributions
by Neuropsych
Summary: (COMPLETE) Sometimes people do things in anger that they should think about before they do it, and then they pay the price... (rated for language, and violence, and definite revenge themes)
1. 01

_Retributions and Reckonings_

Author's Note: Here we go! Another Campers! story. This one will be interesting – remember, by the way, that this is an AU, so if things aren't exactly the way they are in the TV show, you can't complain, because they're never the same as they are in the TV show! (For a timeline, this story takes place in mid November – a you will soon see.)

_Disclaimer: I don't own SG-1, or any of the characters that appear on the show. I do own all the other people that are going to be making an appearance – and there will be a lot, so let's hope it doesn't get too tangled!_

Just so you all know, I might be slow in updating the next couple of days, my schedule is packed - but I'll do my best

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Jack!"

O'Neill turned at the sound of his name, and waited for Daniel to catch up to him. The archeologist trotted up, carrying a stack of papers in his hand.

"What are you and Sam doing for Thanksgiving?"

"What day is that?"

Daniel rolled his eyes.

"Thursday."

"_This_ Thursday?"

"_Next_ Thursday."

"Thanksgiving is _next_ Thursday? Wow... I should make some plans or something..."

Daniel silently wondered how many paper cuts he could give Jack if he threw the stack of papers he was carrying at him.

"Good idea," he said, drolly. "What are you planning?"

Jack smiled; he was always pleased when he could annoy Daniel. It just made his day complete. And it was still _morning_!

"I'm not sure, Daniel." Jack actually wasn't making any plans; he was just doing whatever Sam wanted him to do. "I think we're going to have quite a house of people – Shawn and his folks are coming over, and if River and Ian don't go home for the holidays, they'll probably come, too. Teal'c, of course, Fraiser and Cassie might come if Bregman is still out of town doing that thing on the President getting ready to leave office, and aren't you and Sally invited _already_?"

"No." Daniel said. Then he paused, thinking about it. "Maybe Sam invited Sally and she didn't mention it to me..."

"Or maybe she _did_ and you weren't paying attention..."

"Or maybe she did and I wasn't... did you say something?"

It was Jack's turn to roll his eyes, and Daniel's turn to grin. That'd teach him. Well, no, it probably _wouldn't_, but it was still fun.

"Did you have other plans?" Jack asked.

"No..."

"So I can tell Sam you're going to be there?"

"As far as I –"

"Going to be where?"

They both looked over and saw Sam walking up to them, Jaffer walking next to her. The black lab wagged his tail and went over to get some serious loving from Jack, who was more than willing to comply. As he knelt and scratched his baby's sides, O'Neill smiled up at Sam.

"Daniel and Sally are invited to Thanksgiving dinner, right?"

She nodded.

"Sally and I discussed it a month ago."

"There ya go," Jack said, making a 'there you have it' gesture towards Daniel. "You were invited a month ago."

Sam smiled, and started to say something, when they were interrupted once more, this time by General Hammond, who along with Teal'c was just exiting the elevator Jack had been heading for. He smiled when he saw them.

"Ah, you're all here. Good."

"Here we are..." Jack said, standing up.

"We're about to have some very important visitors." Hammond told them. "You might want-"

"Important?" Daniel asked, curiously. "How important?"

"President-elect Hayes is coming by for a surprise inspection of the base. I'm told he was just informed of the existence of the program, and now that he knows about it, he's going to come and see what goes on around here."

"Well... that'll be nice," Jack said, uncertainly. He hadn't actually voted for Hayes – not because of Hayes himself, who was apparently a long time acquaintance of Hammond's, and therefore couldn't be all that bad – but because the man had a shitty idea of who to hang out with, and Jack would rather have called Teal'c's mother a bad name in front of him than cast a vote for Robert Kinsey, former senator and all around piece of shit human being.

"He's coming _today_, Sir?" Sam asked.

"He'll be here any time," Hammond confirmed.

"Is he coming alone?"

Hammond shook his head, knowing that Jack wasn't going to like what he said next. For that matter, Hammond wasn't all that happy to be saying it.

"Vice President-elect Kinsey will be coming as well."

"Well... _joy_..."

"It won't be for long, Colonel," Hammond said. "And I expect you to be on your best behavior."

"Isn't there some planet that needs reconnoitering, General? I'll take anything right now – volcanic planet, ice planet, I'll even go check out that Hell planet."

"We destroyed that, Jack," Daniel said.

"I could take a ship and go make sure..."

"Colonel, just keep your mouth shut and behave yourself," Hammond told him. He couldn't be angry, really. He knew how Jack felt about the man, after all – and it was how Hammond felt, too – but there were times when you just had to do things you'd rather not do, and this was one of them.

Jack sighed.

"Yes, Sir."

"Should we go change?" Sam asked, looking down at herself. She and Jack weren't in dress uniforms; they were wearing BDUs, which were far more comfortable.

"I –"

_"General Hammond to Checkpoint Beta... repeat, General Hammond, please report to Checkpoint Beta..."_

"Too late," Hammond said, shrugging. "They're here. Let's go say hello, shall we?"

Wondering what he'd done to have his day go from such a good one to such a lousy one in less than ten minutes, Jack sighed and followed Hammond and the others back to the elevator. This wasn't going to be fun. Not at all.


	2. 02

Checkpoint Beta was the first checkpoint after the main gate, and this was where the small motorcade that consisted of a couple of escort vehicles and the limo that was holding President-elect Henry Hayes, and Vice President-elect Robert Kinsey pulled up and stopped.

"You're going to see that everything I've told you is completely true, Henry," Kinsey was saying as he stepped out of the car and gave the Marine that was holding his door a condescending look. Stupid jarheads always looked so serious.

Hayes scowled at Kinsey's back, then got out of the car, nodding politely to the Marine holding his door for him.

"Thank you, son."

"My pleasure, Sir." You normally didn't speak to the President – even the President-elect when you were on detail like this – but if he spoke to you, you had to reply. The Marine's mother had raised him right, after all.

"I'm not saying I don't _believe_ you, Kinsey," Hayes said as they walked toward the checkpoint where they'd be ushered into the base that Henry Hayes had only just heard of a few days after he'd been elected President. "I just can't see George Hammond allowing things to be quite so lax as you make them seem."

"There's _no_ discipline here," Kinsey said. "It's-"

He was interrupted when a Marine opened the door for them, and they stepped through, finding a small welcoming committee waiting for them. Hayes recognized George Hammond immediately, even though the two hadn't seen each other for a long time. He didn't actually know any of the others, but there was no mistaking that the huge black bald man standing close at hand had to be the alien Teal'c. _Jaffa_, his mind supplied.

He'd read some of the reports that had come from the SGC and had scanned through files of some of the personnel, so he wasn't completely at a loss with the others, either. The lovely blonde woman had to be Major Samantha O'Neill – formerly Carter – who was apparently one of the most brilliant people alive when it came to her field. She looked intelligent, he had to agree the moment he saw her. The man standing next to the Jaffa with the darker, longer hair wasn't in uniform and he was younger, so that had to be Daniel Jackson – who was also a genius, apparently, although in linguistics and ancient things.

The other man was in BDUs, and there was no doubt that this was Jack O'Neill. _Colonel_ Jack O'Neill. Hayes had heard a lot about him – and not much of it was favorable. Of course, everything he'd heard was from Kinsey, who seemed to delight in talking shit about O'Neill, and Hayes wasn't all that fond of Kinsey, so he wasn't taking all he'd heard at face value. He'd read part of O'Neill's file, and everything he'd _read_ – and Hayes wasn't stupid by any means – told him that O'Neill had saved the world more times than anyone else, and had done so at great risk to his own skin. That said a lot about a man as far as the President-elect was concerned.

Oh, and look at the dogs! A yellow lab was seated in perfect pose at the side of the Jaffa, watching everything that was going on around him with intelligent brown eyes that didn't seem to miss anything. Standing next to Colonel O'Neill was a black lab – who was bigger than any lab Hayes had ever seen – and he, too was watching his surroundings carefully, his tail idly wagging as the President-elect and his small party approached, more than ready to be friends, but definitely making sure that there wasn't going to be trouble.

"Mr. President," Hammond said as they entered the base proper. "Welcome to Stargate Command." He saluted, but Hayes didn't return it, instead putting his hand out with a warm smile.

"General Hammond, it's a pleasure to see you again."

Hammond's smile was just as warm as he shook hands.

"You, too, Sir." He turned to Kinsey, and the warm smile faded. Hayes knew from the slightly clouded look in George's eyes that he didn't think much of Kinsey, and the look the Vice President-elect gave the General told him the feeling was completely mutual. "Mr. Vice President."

"General."

Hammond didn't offer a salute and Kinsey didn't offer his hand.

"May I introduce you to some of my personnel, Sir?" Hammond said, turning back to Hayes, and gesturing to those with him.

"This is Colonel Jack O'Neill."

Hayes offered Jack his hand before O'Neill could offer to salute him, and Jack took it with a polite smile.

"I've heard a lot about you, Colonel O'Neill," Hayes said.

O'Neill tossed a look over at Kinsey, and then his brown eyes went back to Hayes.

"I'll _bet_ you have, Sir."

If Hammond's glance at Kinsey had been clouded, Jack O'Neill's was a thunderstorm waiting to happen. There was absolutely no doubt that O'Neill couldn't stand being this close to Kinsey, and Hayes saw the instant reflection of that malice in Kinsey's eyes. These two men hated each other, that was certain.

"I've _read_ about you, too, Colonel," Hayes said, smiling. He wondered what it was that they had against each other. "All of it impressive."

"Yes, Sir." Jack said – how do you reply to _that_? "Thank you."

"From what I've read, Colonel, I should be thanking you."

"Just doing my job, Sir." Jack told him. "Besides, I didn't do it alone." He turned to those with him, and Hammond stepped up to do more introductions.

"This is Major Samantha O'Neill, our resident Astrophysicist and Colonel O'Neill's second in command on SG-1."

Hayes took Sam's hand as well, smiling.

"It's a pleasure, Major."

"Thank you, Mr. President."

Oh yeah, she was beautiful and intelligent. Jack O'Neill was a lucky guy, Hayes decided. He caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and saw that Kinsey was moving forward to take Major O'Neill's hand as well, and saw the large black lab next to Colonel O'Neill move slightly until his large body was between the Vice President-elect and the Major. Hayes hid his smile, but it was obvious the dog didn't want Kinsey anywhere near her.

"This is Dr. Daniel Jackson."

"The linguist," Hayes said, holding his hand out to Jackson, who took it with a slightly nervous smile.

"Mr. President."

"And this," Hammond said, "Is Teal'c."

Hayes didn't offer his hand to the Jaffa, but he gave him a slight bow – he'd read up on that and apparently the Jaffa didn't shake hands, and Hayes was far too much of a diplomat to force his way on someone else. Especially someone who towered over him like Teal'c did.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Teal'c."

"The honor is mine."

The alien's voice was deep and gravelly, just as menacing as his looks, and Hayes was glad he was on their side.

"If you'll come with us, Mr. President," Hammond said, gesturing, "We'll give you the tour, first, and then answer any questions you might have."

"I have a million questions, George," Hayes said with a smile, walking over to stand between Hammond and Major O'Neill. He noticed that the big black lab didn't seem to have any problem with him standing near the Major and found himself feeling perversely pleased by that. As they started moving, he managed to hear the greeting between O'Neill and Kinsey, although he was certain he wasn't supposed to.

"Colonel O'Neill... killed anyone lately?"

"Senator Kinsey... taken any candy from babies?"

Oh yeah, this was definitely going to be interesting, Hayes decided.


	3. 03

_Author's Note: Just so you all know, I don't live all that far from Mt. St. Helens, which for you who don't know, is a volcano in Washington state that erupted in 1980 with quite a bang. It's rumbling again – and has been for the last couple weeks, and they're expecting another eruption, although the USGA says they're not expecting anything like what happened in 1980. (You can see info on NWCN . COM (without the spaces, of course) If you hear about it blowing up, and don't hear from me for a while, just assume there's a problem with ash in the air messing with communications and such. (Just in case, I didn't want you to all wonder what was going on – I hate not updating)_

OOOOOOOO

By the time he'd finished the tour of the SGC Hayes was pretty much speechless. He'd read the reports, of course, and had even seen a few videos taken on various missions, but to actually see the place up close and personal was just incredible. Here brave soldiers and scientists had been fighting an enemy most of the world was completely unaware of and had been risking their lives to protect people – not just Americans – that had no clue how much they owed these folks. It was humbling.

He'd asked a few questions, mostly about what made the Stargate work, and what made various other devices function, and Major O'Neill had answered them with what he supposed was simplistic responses. The only problem was; Hayes didn't have a clue what she'd been talking about most of the time. It must have showed, because after the second question had been answered, Colonel O'Neill leaned close.

"I never understand a quarter of what she's telling me, either, Sir," he'd whispered softly, "And I've been around her a _lot_ longer."

Hayes had grinned – he hadn't been around O'Neill long, but he'd already decided that he liked the man. He was self-confident and assured – something that Hayes knew was necessary in a Command officer, and the wry sense of humor was enough to forgive the slightly irreverent manner of the man.

Kinsey had overheard the comment, and had glared at the Colonel, but Jack O'Neill hadn't even graced the Vice President-elect with so much as an apologetic look. Obviously, O'Neill wasn't intimidated by Kinsey – or even himself – Hayes decided. That was good, too.

"Do you _see_ what I mean?" Robert had asked him the next time they'd been on the go – walking from one section of the SGC to another. It was the fourth time on this one tour that Kinsey had come up to walk with him on the sole purpose of bitching about something. "He's _exactly_ what I was talking about. No one should be so flippant with-"

"Bob," Hayes had just about had enough of the man for the day. "Hush."

"What?"

"Shut the hell up," Hayes repeated, scowling. "I'm trying to figure this place out, and I can't do it with you complaining in my ear every ten minutes."

"But-"

Hayes had walked off, leaving Kinsey staring at him, a mixture of fury and disbelief on his face, and Jack O'Neill had walked past, still following the tour even though he had very little input in it.

"Looks like he has you figured out, Kinsey," O'Neill had said as he went by.

Kinsey reached out, grabbing Jack's sleeve and pulled him back before he could get out of reach. They were at the back of the group, so very few people noticed.

"Don't _screw_ with me, O'Neill," the Vice President-elect hissed. "You're not the President's fair-haired boy anymore. There's a _new_ President, now, and a new administration, and I'm going to-"

A low growl interrupted him, and he looked down to see the big black lab had stopped when Jack had. Jaffer wasn't going to put up with anyone touching his Jack – especially someone that he could tell Jack didn't like. He hadn't been given permission to attack, yet, but he was only looking for an excuse, and he was close to it just then. The large canines were glaringly white and long, and against the black face, there was no mistaking the intent in the dog's mannerism.

"Get your hand off me, Kinsey, before I break it off..." Jack had murmured, his own voice just as low as the growl that was emanating from deep in Jaffer's throat. "I don't know why Hayes chose such a fawning boot-licker like you to be his running mate, but if you think that I'm going to roll over and watch you try to bring this place down with your petty machinations, you're in for a rude awakening."

Kinsey released O'Neill, his face vivid with anger that either one of them had dared threaten him. They _dared_! He debated sending a kick towards the dog, and it must have shown in his face, because Jack had a final word of warning for him.

"It'll come back a bloody stump, I promise you..."

Then he and the dog had walked off, leaving the Vice President-elect stewing in a simmering rage as he watched them. The _bastard_! He looked around, and saw that even though they had been in the back of the group, several of the Marines who were in charge of security had witnessed the exchange, and weren't bothering to hide their amusement. This only served to anger Kinsey further, and the man was actually shaking with rage as he tried to gather up the remains of his dignity and follow the rest of the group on the final leg of the tour.

He'd get even with them. All of them. Starting with O'Neill. That sonofabitch.

OOOOOOOOO

"George," Hayes offered his hand to Hammond. "Thank you for taking the time to show me around."

They were back at the surface, now, and getting ready to leave after what had been a very interesting morning.

"You're welcomed, Sir," Hammond said, smiling. Things had gone far smoother than he'd expected – although Kinsey looked almost apoplexic before the walk through was over and he was sure that had something to do with Jack – and nothing had happened to make the facility look bad. "Come back anytime."

"I plan to," Hayes assured him with a smile. The President-elect turned to Sam, and graced her with his most charming – and genuine – smile. "Major, I hope to see you again sometime. Maybe next time I'll understand what you were trying to tell me."

Sam smiled sheepishly, almost apologetic.

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't be," he said with another smile. "It's not your fault I don't understand what you do. Just keep up the good work."

Hayes didn't know it, but he'd just raised another point in Jack's estimation. Any time you were good to Sam, you were getting up there in Jack's opinion. Hayes then turned to Jack, his hand extended.

"Colonel, it was an honor to meet you."

"Thank you, Sir. You, too."

Jack looked over at Kinsey to see what reaction there was to this, but the man was stalking towards the limo, his expression hard and his face set in barely controlled fury.

Hayes followed his gaze.

"Watch that one, O'Neill," the President warned him, softly. "He _really_ doesn't like you..."

"I can handle him, Sir," Jack assured him, confidently. "But I do hope you understand when I say I wish you the best of health for the next 8 years..."

"Thanks."

The President-elect chuckled, and turned to walk over and join Kinsey in the limo. He had another meeting in Washington, soon, and they were on a tight schedule. Besides, he was ready to lose the Vice President (who was staying in Colorado for another couple o days for meetings of his own).

As the limo drove off a few minutes later, Jack had a final glimpse of Kinsey's face through the open window. And so did Sam and Daniel, who had walked over to stand next to him.

"Wow, he looks pissed," Daniel noted.

"He'll get over it," Jack said, shrugging. "I already am."

"You certainly know how to bring out the worst in him..." Sam said, shaking her head.

"Yup." Jack turned, ready to go back in. It was November, after all, and not warm. "Who's hungry?"

Jaffer wagged his tail. He was!


	4. 04

_Author's Note: The language is a little rough in this chapter (nothing like the boys, though)!_

OOOOOOOOO

"You know, Bob, this meeting would be a bit easier if you'd actually pay _attention_ to what the hell I'm saying..."

Kinsey turned his attention from his black inner thoughts and looked over at the man who was sitting across from him. Colonel Nicholas Stanton was one of only a few Military officers who Kinsey could stand, and he was the only one Kinsey would have allowed to speak to him like that. The two were a lot alike – both in their social status and upbringing, and in their intense dislike of certain other people in the Government – and the military.

"Sorry, Nick," Kinsey said, not really meaning it, but knowing it was something he had to say.

"You look like you're pretty miffed about something," Stanton observed, setting his drink down on the table and standing up. "Maybe I'll let this meeting wait for another day..."

"No, you don't have to go," Kinsey said, setting his own drink down as well, and folding his hands on the table in front of him. "It's that God-damned Jack O'Neill. He made me look like an _idiot_ today..."

While Stanton wasn't really surprised that someone had managed to make Kinsey look like an idiot – the guy rarely needed help, after all – he knew better than to say it.

"O'Neill's a cocky bastard, that's for sure," he said.

"Hayes seems to like him," Kinsey brooded, darkly. "That's just not acceptable."

"You can't tell people what to think."

This remark was rewarded with a glare that Stanton ignored.

"God, I _hate_ O'Neill..."

This wasn't news to Stanton. Jack O'Neill was Kinsey's bane of existence, that was for sure. Of course, _Stanton_ didn't really like O'Neill, either. The man was far too cocky for his own good, and his irreverence for the chain of command was something that rankled the other Colonel immensely.

"I know."

"He's too..." Kinsey's anger was building the more he thought of how much he hated Jack, and he couldn't even think of a word to describe just what O'Neill was.

"I know." Stanton said. "But it's not like there's anything you can do about it, Bob. Everything you've tried has practically backfired, and-"

"I don't need you to remind me what I've tried," Kinsey said, nastily, slamming his hand down on the table so hard he knocked his glass over and spilled his drink. "That bastard needs an attitude adjustment."

"You can't change O'Neill," Stanton said. "He's too-"

"There must be someone who can," Kinsey replied, massaging his hand. "I'd love to see him get the shit beat out of him – that'd be an attitude adjustment, now wouldn't it?"

"I don't think you'd have much of a chance against O'Neill, Bob. He's-"

"Not _me_, Nick," Kinsey interrupted, impatiently. Like he'd soil his hands by touching O'Neill. "It'd have to be someone far more of a... professional... than I am..."

Stanton looked at the suddenly sly expression on the Vice President-elect's face, and felt the stirrings of unease.

"What are you thinking?"

"You must know someone who could get to O'Neill... someone who could... show him that he's not as invulnerable as he thinks he is?"

Stanton shook his head. He didn't even have to stop and think about it.

"The only guys I know that are good enough to have a chance at O'Neill wouldn't dream of going against him." As much has he despised the man, he knew he was good. "He's not-"

"That's not what I want to hear!" Kinsey almost screamed, frustration and fury raging through him. "I want him to learn a lesson, God damn it! A _hard_ lesson! I'm so fucking sick of him acting like-"

"Bob," Stanton frowned, taken aback by the ferocity in his friend's mannerism. "You need to calm down – before you blow a gasket. You're not going to get to O'Neill. No one would be dumb enough to take him on, especially with those people he has around him." Stanton was one of the few who knew Teal'c wasn't human, and he'd seen the Jaffa and knew he was a formidable adversary. Stanton wouldn't dream of going after O'Neill, and he knew no one else would, either.

Kinsey scowled, aware that he'd lost his cool – something he hated to do, even around people he knew well. He stared at the spilled Bourbon, running his finger idly through it as he tried to think of an alternative. Something that would hurt O'Neill just as badly as if he'd been attacked himself.

The _wife_ would be the perfect target, but she was as well protected as O'Neill himself. If no one would go after O'Neill, they'd definitely steer clear of the wife. Thoughts of revenge were running through his head, now, and possible targets were flashing through his mind. Who could it be? What would hurt O'Neill the most? Teal'c? Yeah, that would hurt, but Teal'c wasn't going to be taken down easily, and Jackson was just as hard to get to, most likely, as the wife. Not to mention, Kinsey had heard somewhere that the wife was pregnant and everyone was-

Wait... wasn't there a rumor going around? Something about O'Neill and an unacknowledged bastard? He frowned, trying to remember what he'd heard... something... the boy – and he was, what? 14? 15? – was at the Air Force academy... Some kind of Presidential Order or something... yeah... which meant that even if O'Neill didn't openly acknowledge the boy, he definitely _knew_ about him. Why else would he have taken such pain to get him into a Service academy?

Kinsey scowled; the last thing the United States needed was another O'Neill in their Military Officer ranks. Maybe he could kill two birds with one stone... take the boy, give O'Neill a fright he'd never forget – and maybe even scare the boy off and keep him from returning to the academy when he was released. It was worth thinking about, wasn't it...?

"Nick..."

Stanton had wondered what was going through Kinsey's mind. The man was a weasel, but able to hide it well – unless he wasn't paying attention to schooling his thought – which he wasn't, just then. Stanton could see that he was doing some heavy thinking.

"Bob?"

"What if you had a smaller target?"

"What do you mean?" Why did he suddenly feel uneasy?

"O'Neill has a son..."


	5. 05

"What?"

"Jack O'Neill has a son – a bastard son."

"You're kidding."

Kinsey shook his head. "I'm serious. It's not a big secret – although he hasn't actually claimed him, it appears. Probably would be frozen out of the marital bed if he tried to bring the boy home."

"How did you find out about this?"

"I keep my ears open," Kinsey said. "The story went around the upper ranks last month – not that I don't have better things to do than listen to gossip mongers, but when it's something so interesting..."

Stanton shook his head.

"If it's really Jack O'Neill's son, you'd be well off to leave him alone, Bob."

"He's only a boy – 14 or 15 from what I hear. That wouldn't be a challenge to someone with... connections like yours." Kinsey was leaning forward, now, an odd gleam in his eyes. "He's at the Air Force academy, so you wouldn't even have to go looking for him..."

"_I'm_ not going anywhere near that kid," Stanton said, shaking his head. "And you better not either."

"It's perfect," Kinsey said, ignoring the warning. "One boy wouldn't pose much of a problem, and O'Neill would realize that we can get to him anytime we want to..."

"_We're_ not doing shit, Bob," Stanton said, standing up. "Jack O'Neill isn't a man to cross, and even _I_ know that. You do this, and you're doing it without me."

Kinsey scowled, but he wasn't surprised. Cowards. He was surrounded by a bunch of fucking cowards.

"Fine, get the hell out!" Kinsey shouted. "I don't need your help."

Because he was friends – more or less – with the man, Stanton tried once more.

"He'll kill you..."

"He won't know who did it."

"O'Neill's smart, he'll know..."

"He's an idiot," Kinsey replied, absently, waving for the traitorous bastard to get out. He had plans to make, and he was going to have to be careful – if Stanton's reaction was indicative of the response he was going to get from everyone he brought it up with. Coward. O'Neill was _nobody_, didn't Stanton understand that? He was a bump in Kinsey's road to domination and political power, nothing more. But he was an annoyance, and one that needed to be taken care of once and for all, in a decisive strike.

As the door closed behind Stanton, Kinsey reached for the telephone.

"Get me Major Allen Clay on the phone." He ordered. A moment later he scowled. "How the hell should I know where he lives? Look him up."

He hung up the phone, and started pacing the room, smiling slightly. Yes... this was going to be exactly the thing he needed. God, he should have thought of it years ago.

OOOOOOO

The phone rang a half hour later.

"Kinsey."

"Major Clay is on the line, Sir," Came the hotel operator's voice.

"Well, let me talk to him." Jesus, did these people think he wanted to spend the day chatting with _them_?

"Major Clay, Sir."

Kinsey's smile was predatory.

"Major, this is Vice President Kinsey, I need you here in Colorado immediately. Bring a team of your best operatives."

"Yes, Sir, we'll be on the first plane we can catch."

He liked that. The man didn't ask what he was going to be doing, and didn't ask what kind of operatives Kinsey wanted him to bring. He just acknowledged his orders and did as he was told. Something O'Neill should learn to do.

OOOOOOOOOOO

"Jack?"

O'Neill looked up from his paperwork. Paperwork he was supposed to be doing, but wasn't really paying attention to. His mind was on other things – like the fact that Sam had passed the three-month mark in her pregnancy that day.

It hadn't meant anything to Jack when she'd brought it up, but since she'd acted like it was so important, Jack had gone to Janet and asked her why that was important. Janet, of course, had been monitoring Sam's pregnancy closely, even though she wasn't the primary doctor when it came to Sam's pregnancy, and had told Jack that it was an important date because after the third month, the baby was pretty much formed – still very very tiny, but formed – and the chances of a miscarriage dropped considerably. Which explained to Jack why Sam had been almost giddy.

He'd known she was concerned about the chance of losing this baby – Jack was, too – but the smile on her face and the way she had clung happily to him when she hugged him was a sign that she was feeling better about the baby's chances. So now, he was trying to decide how a couple should celebrate the passing of the three-month mark. Probably with a bunch of flowers and a formal dinner? He should have asked Janet, but she'd been busy and he hadn't wanted to bother her all that much.

"What's up Daniel?" He asked, setting his pen down with a grateful sigh.

"Sally wants to know if Sam wants her to bring anything for Thanksgiving..."

Jack shrugged.

"Why are you asking _me_?"

"Because Sam's not here."

"Even if I answered you, chances are I'd be wrong, you know..."

"Ah, but if you answer me, and you're wrong, it'll be your fault and not mine, because I _asked_, like I was told."

Jack scowled.

"I don't know what Sam's plans are for dinner, Daniel. It's a week away, for goodness sake, and all I know for sure about what's going on that day is that it's on Thursday."

"So when will you ask Sam?"

"Why don't _you_ ask Sam?"

"Because Sally told me to ask you so we don't keep bothering Sam."

Jack sighed.

"Tell her to bring the plates."

Daniel sighed, a long sigh of great endless patience.

"I think she's talking about _food_, Jack. You guys have plates already."

"I'll figure it out," Jack promised, running his hand through his short hair.

"When?"

"Later."

"Later when?"

"Later later."

"Jack..."

"Daniel, I have to figure out how to celebrate the three month mark of a pregnancy, so if you don't have any good ideas to pull out of your ass, then I need you to leave me alone so I can think about it a bit..."

The archeologist stared at him for a moment, and Jack watched him hopefully. The silence grew in the room, and Jack's hopeful look increased.

"Nope. Sorry."

"Bah. Get out."


	6. 06

You could say a lot about Robert Kinsey – and many people did – but you could never say he wasn't one to be prepared. By the time Major Allen Clay was announced into his penthouse hotel room, Kinsey had done all the homework, and was ready to brief the major.

"Come in, Major," Kinsey said, giving the man a smile that didn't reach his eyes and showed far too many teeth. Clay didn't even notice. He was too puffed up with the fact that the Vice President had called him to even care. It had been ego-boosting when it had been Senator Kinsey who Allen Clay ran 'private' missions for, but it was even better now, and no one had been happier to hear about the election results that Clay and his small squad of select Army Rangers.

"Thank you, Sir."

"Have a seat, please." He pointed to the dining room table, where he had his preparations made and waiting, and ignored how distasteful it was to be so polite to someone so far down on the pecking order that the man was practically krill. We all had to do things we didn't like to get things done, sometimes. Kinsey knew that.

Major Clay walked over and seated himself, and accepted the drink Kinsey handed him a moment later.

"Where are your men?" Kinsey asked.

"In the safe-house, Sir, just like you ordered."

"You didn't check in with the locals?"

"No Sir. You told me not to."

Yes, he had. He definitely didn't want anyone to know Major Clay and his unit were in town. He was pleased once more that the man had doe what he'd been told.

"Good."

Kinsey paced a moment, trying to figure out exactly how he wanted to say what he was going to say. He knew Allen Clay knew who Jack O'Neill was, and he had every intention of making sure that Clay didn't know that his target was O'Neill's boy. He'd already been warned off once, he didn't want to have to put up with another coward backing out of a job simply because he was too afraid of that sonofabitch O'Neill.

"Have you ever been to the Air Force academy, Clay?"

Use of the man's last name with no title was pretty much an insult, but the Major assumed it was a sign of just how close he and Kinsey were, and he puffed up just a little.

"No, Sir. I've never had reason to."

"There's a cadet at the Academy that I've taken an interest in. A freshman. He's the son of... someone who I don't like very much, and I want to teach the father a lesson."

"Are you talking assassination, Sir?"

"Good Lord, no," Kinsey said, acting as though this was an appalling thought – although he'd _considered_ that and had decided it was too quick and wouldn't scare O'Neill. He didn't want the Colonel to just be _upset_, he wanted the man to be _frightened_. To know fear for the first time, and to wallow in that fear. "He's only a boy, Major. I want you to capture him, and bring him to the safe-house, so I can... meet him."

"Yes, Sir."

Just like that. No questioning his orders, no insubordination. Kinsey had given an order and Major Clay had accepted it. Fucking O'Neill... he could learn a lot from this Army Major, Kinsey thought.

"I assumed that you wouldn't have any knowledge of the grounds of the Academy," Kinsey said, reaching into the briefcase on the table and pulling out some papers. "So I had these prepared. It's a map of all the floors and the rooms – and the security systems – of the academy. They don't appear to have much in the way of security, so you and your men should have very little trouble infiltrating the place. Get the boy – his room is clearly marked on one of the maps – and call me when you've done it. I don't want to know how or when, I just want to know when you're done."

"Yes Sir."

Allen Clay was just as glad he didn't have to tell Kinsey the how and when, because this way he'd be able to do it on their own schedule. He looked through the papers briefly, just to give himself an idea of the lay out of the place, and looked back up at the Vice President, who was still pacing.

"Any other instructions, Sir?"

Kinsey shook his head.

"The boy I want is named Shawn Adams. The Academy has their cadets two to a room, so be aware of that."

"We won't even wake him up, Sir." Clay said, confidently. "He won't know what's happened until he gets up in the morning and finds himself alone in the room."

"Good."

Kinsey smiled again.

"You're dismissed, Major."

"Yes, Sir."

Clay gathered the papers and put them back in the briefcase, then left.

OOOOOOOO

"Hey, Adams!"

"Yeah?"

"Is that invitation for me to come stay with you on Thanksgiving liberty still standing?"

"Sure, but I thought you were going to go home?"

"My folks have a surfing competition that weekend, and they can't miss it, or my dad will lose some serious points."

"Why don't you go with them, Hayden?" River asked from the other side of the room. He'd been lounging on his bed, tossing a balled up sock and trying to figure out what he wanted to write his Physics essay about.

"Because it's in Australia, and that's too far to travel to just stay a few days."

"You're welcomed to come, River," Shawn said, smiling. "My mom already said the couch was yours if you wanted it."

"Well, it looks like I'm going to need it."

"Great."

"Oooo, you can meet _Gina_," Ian said slyly, turning over in his bunk and looking down at Shawn, who was seated at the desk.

Shawn blushed a brilliant shade of red – he was easily embarrassed when it came to his fledgling romance with Gina, and the two older cadets knew it and enjoyed springing it on him at random moments. Shawn was so self-assured about everything else; it was fun for them to see him discombobulated occasionally.

"Hey, I _can_..." River agreed, smiling as well. "Does she have an older sister, Shawn?"

"Yes."

"Oh. _Really_? Is she cute? What does she look like?" River had just been joking, but hey! Older sister! Who knew what could come of _that_?

"She's okay..." Shawn said, shrugging. He didn't know Mary all that well – she was older, and had very little use for her younger sister's friends, after all. "If you're nice, maybe Gina will introduce you to her. But I think she has a boyfriend."

"Well..." River was never one to give up. "We'll see what happens, then, huh?"

Shawn smiled.

"Sure."


	7. 07

_Author's note: I didn't want the Army to feel left out! _

OOOOOOOOOO

"This is our target..."

Allen Clay was standing in the middle of the living room of the safe-house that was owned by a dummy corporation which was in no way traceable to Robert Kinsey – although it was in truth owned by him – and was addressing a small band of elite soldiers.

There were five of them total – including Clay – and all of them had seen more than their fair share of combat and all of them had participated in plenty of behind the lines missions. Ranging in rank from a Sergeant First class up to a Captain, they were tried and tested, and Clay trusted them more than he trusted anyone.

"The Air Force Academy?" One of the men – Sergeant First Class Julian Moore – asked, not bothering to hide his confusion. "What could possibly be there?"

"A Cadet named Shawn Adams," Answered Clay. "Kinsey wants this boy to be taken to teach his father some kind of lesson."

"_Killed_?"

"No. We're to capture him – alive – and bring him back here."

"That ought to be interesting," said the Captain – Steven Payne.

Clay shrugged, "It shouldn't be all that hard. There's not that much for defenses form what the papers Kinsey gave me say, and there's a roommate, but we should be able to do this without waking him up if we do it right."

"And if he does wake up?"

"Then we make sure he sleeps well the rest of the night."

They'd take knock out gas or a syringe – whichever seemed safest once they'd made their plans.

"What are we supposed to be doing with this guy once we have him?"

"We call Kinsey and he tells us from there."

"What kind of defenses are we looking at?" Moore asked, looking at the papers that Clay had pinned to a corkboard on the wall.

"Minimal," Clay said, gesturing for them all to get up and come over and look. "We could probably go in through the gate if we wanted to."

They all laughed at that, since it was an old joke.

"What we'll do is go over the wall here," Clay said pointing to the proper photo from the group of them he had hanging up. "Then we'll..."

And so it went. They studied their plan – which was always subject to changing if someone saw a problem with something – and debated on the best course of action in the event that the roommate woke up, or someone managed to surprise them. Not that they expected it, but it was always better to have a contingency plan, an these men were pros and would always have a contingency plan.

OOOOOOOOO

"How about Yolanda?"

"Ugh."

Sam pulled her head from where it'd been resting on Jack's shoulder to peek at his face to see if he'd been serious. Judging from the gleam of humor in his eyes, he wasn't. Lucky for him.

The two of them were enjoying a very relaxing evening together. Jack had made dinner – and had gone all out with baked chicken in mushroom sauce, pasta and veggies on the side – and had then presented her with what he called their '3 month celebration gift'.

A lovely photo album with a place on the front to have their baby's name engraved into the shiny ornamental name tag, and all sorts of places inside for certain pictures; baby's first steps, first birthday, first words – like you could get a picture of that? But it was beautiful, and Sam had cried when she'd seen it. And Jack had pulled her into his arms and carried her over to the couch where they were now cuddling while he teased her to help her get her hormones back into line.

The first time she'd started crying for nothing, he'd been concerned, and between him and Jaffer the two of them had treated her like glass until she'd been about ready to kick them both out of the house for the rest of her pregnancy. It wasn't quite so bad, now, although Jack was always gentle with her when she cried – or got angry – and he was always willing to hold her when she wanted it – which was more and more often. Crazy baby was really getting to her.

Now they were discussing the name that would end up being engraved in the photo album, and since they were still at ends about the sex of the baby, they weren't able to come to an agreement.

"How about Norton?" Sam asked.

"Norton?"

She smiled and shrugged, and Jack shook his head.

"No way."

"How about-"

The phone rang, interrupting them. Jack looked around, certain he'd brought it into the living room with him, but realizing he hadn't, since he'd been carrying Sam at the time.

"Jaffer... get that phone, will ya, little man?"

The black lab gave Jack a reproachful look – next thing they'd be having him do the dishes – and slid off the couch, walking over and taking the ringing cordless in his mouth. He brought it over and Jack took it from him, and then answered it while Sam made a big deal over the dog and reminded him that he was the greatest, smartest dog in the world.

Yeah, he'd almost be willing to do the dishes if Sam asked him to...

"Hello?"

"Jack, hi."

"Shawn?"

Sam looked over, wondering if everything was all right.

"Yeah."

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah."

"He's okay," Jack murmured to Sam, smiling when he saw her lose the worried look in her blue eyes. Her perfect blue eyes that were _so_ easy to fall into that-

"Jack?"

Jack snapped his attention back to the phone.

"Yeah, sorry."

Sam snickered, although she was blushing, too. She knew she'd distracted him, and it made her feel good that she still did. She hoped she would still do it when she was huge and bulky.

"Have you guys cemented out your Thanksgiving plans yet?"

"We never _cement_ anything, Shawn, you know that." Jack told him. "What's up?"

"Do you have anyone staying over there?"

"Not that I know of. Sam's dad might come, but he's going to want to stay with Hammond if he does, so they can catch up. Why? You want to come sleep on our couch?"

"No." Shawn realized he might have said that a little fast, and added. "Well, if I didn't have a place to sleep I would, but-"

Jack laughed, "I know what you meant."

"Well, Ian just found out that his mom and dad are probably not going to be in New York for Thanksgiving, which means he'd have to either stay at the school or go home and be alone..."

"Hold on, buddy." Jack turned to Sam. "Ian doesn't have a place to go for Thanksgiving. Think you could handle a teenager around the house for the holidays?"

Sam smiled.

"I think it'd be great."

"Ask Ian – _tell_ Ian – that Sam insists that he comes and stays with us, and if he has a problem with that then he's just going to make her cry, and then I'll have to do him bodily harm."

"You don't mind?" Shawn asked, obviously sounding relieved. "He could stay with us, but grandma and grandpa are coming in, and I don't think that we're even going to have _floor space_ for him."

"He can have the couch. Tell him we'll come by and pick him up on Wednesday."

"I'll let him know, Jack. Thanks."

"Anytime, Shawn. Need anything else?"

"Nope. Tell Sam I love her, and I'll see her soon."

The phone went dead.

"He loves you and he'll see you soon."

"Ian?"

Jack rolled his eyes.

"Shawn."

Sam laughed and Jack realized belatedly that she'd gotten him.

"Wench."

Sam just giggled and pulled him close to steal a kiss.


	8. 08

_Author's Note: Whew! another plume of ash and steam from that mountain! The ash is heading my direction, but it doesn't look like it's going to be too bad, so hopefully it won't affect my posting (although it's definitely a distraction) I'll try to keep posting, since I hate making you all wait - especially on cliffhangers)_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was almost easy for the Rangers to infiltrate the Academy. Of course, it wasn't necessarily because the defenses of the school weren't great – they had a couple of dogs, which weren't usually on duty at night, and guards at the gates, but they were mostly for show. The rangers were good. They were well trained and professionals, and they had worked together so long they were like one man. Besides, people just didn't invade _schools_, and who'd want to infiltrate the Air Force Academy?

5 Army rangers with a mission from the Vice President-elect, that's who.

They went in three days after they'd been given the mission. That was all the planning they needed for this one – and even that was more than they'd really thought they needed. They struck on a Monday night, knowing that Wednesday afternoon classes would be out for the Thanksgiving liberty, so they'd either have to do it before then, or wait another week – and they knew Kinsey didn't want them to wait that long.

Over the West wall at midnight. First one dark shadow, then another, and another, until there were five. They moved silently, and effortlessly, no guns in their hands – although they all itched to have them even though they quailed at the thought of a gunfight in the middle of a school. Especially a Service academy. These young men and women were the future of the Military – yeah, it was the Air Force, and not the Army, but they weren't going to open fire on a bunch of future fellow officers. It just wasn't going to happen. They carried low impact pistols that were armed with drugged darts, just in case they decided they needed to take out the roommate – and anyone who might become a problem.

The dorms were silent and dark, which was exactly what they'd expected. That was the good thing about the Service academies; they sent the students to bed and the students went because they knew they were expected to obey. None of that acting up and rebelling crap here. You rebelled; you were expelled, or given extra duties.

Clay led his group through the side door of the Cadet's dorm – there were different wings for different years, and the freshmen were in the closest wing. The boy they were looking for was in a room a few floors up, and they found the stairs exactly where their maps and papers had said they'd be. Even with their boots, they barely made a sound as they ascended the staircase, moving quickly but silently.

They stopped at the landing of the proper floor, and Clay waited just a moment to give them a chance to all catch up and group themselves. Two would stay at the door to make sure that no one came up on the other three unexpected. They knew there was a floor guard – an older cadet whose job was to make sure the younger cadets didn't do anything stupid, like try to sneak off into town in the middle of the night, or worse, sneak into one of the other dorm rooms – but they weren't worried about him. If he got in their way, he'd take a nap. No harm done.

"Go," Clay ordered, gesturing for Moore and Payne to head out into the hall. He followed as soon as they were gone, leaving the other two to guard the stairs.

The room they wanted was about halfway down the hallway on the right, and after pressing his ear to the door for a moment, Moore gave a nod, indicating that he didn't hear anyone talking inside. That would have been the only thing that could have tripped them up; if the cadets had for some reason woken up in the middle of the night and were chatting. But everything was quiet, and at Payne's signal, Moore opened the door silently, just as Clay caught up to them. All three rangers slipped into the room, and immediately realized they had a problem.

"There's three beds..." Moore whispered.

Clay could count. He flashed Moore a look, and pulled out his flashlight. They were going to have to improvise. Nothing new there, right? The one they wanted was younger than the others, which would make him easy to spot. The Major sidled up to the single bed, and covered the end of his flashlight with one gloved hand before turning it on. This muffled the light quite a bit, casting shadows on the walls and ceiling, but avoiding a direct light shining directly in the sleeping Cadet's face to keep from waking him.

This one was at least 18, and not the one they were looking for.

Moore was doing the same thing for the sleeper in the bottom bunk of the bunk beds.

"This one," Moore whispered, easily noticing the smaller size of the occupant of the bed he was looking at. He pulled the pistol out – they'd have to dart this one, because there was no way they'd be able to carry him out without waking him otherwise.

OOOOOOOOO

Ian Brooks was not a heavy sleeper. He never had been, but since the attack on him and his roommates only a couple of months before, he'd been even more restless when it came to sleeping. He'd had more than his share of nightmares and _that_, too, kept him from being able to sleep soundly. His ears were always listening for something out of place and his subconscious mind was always aware of what was going on around him. The sound of the door opening had woken him, and he'd lain still, trying to figure out what was going on. When he saw the shadows on the ceiling above him, he'd known something was up – a senior prank, maybe – but he hadn't been able to figure out what it was just by listening. He'd quietly looked over the edge of his bed, and had seen someone looking at Shawn, and pulling a gun.

"What the fuck are-"

The man looked up at him, just as Ian rolled off his bunk to land on him, reaching for the gun. The noise woke River and Shawn, and there was instant chaos in the room as the three Rangers suddenly found themselves wrestling with three cadets.

"Get off me!" Moore was struggling under Ian, who had come down swinging. The cadet was a powerful young man, and he was punching as hard as he could. He didn't know what exactly was going on, but if it was a prank it wasn't a funny one, and if it was something else, well... they'd learn their lesson, wouldn't they? The flashlight clattered to the floor, rolling under the bunk, and then turning when it hit the leg, the light illuminating the wrestling matches eerily.

"Ian!"

Shawn had woken immediately and was already throwing himself into the fray, even as Payne and Clay both tried to get the situation in hand. The Major grabbed the cadet in the single bed, holding him down even as he tried to surge out of his bed to help his roommates, and he pulled out his own pistol and fired it point blank at the blonde cadet. The dart hit River directly in the chest, but the effect wasn't immediate and the Major and the cadet made eye contact, which was the absolute last thing Clay had wanted to happen.

"Knock them all out," Clay ordered, still keeping his voice down to try and avoid alerting the rest of the school. "We'll take them all."

They had to; the blonde cadet had seen him, and even in the dim light he couldn't be sure that the young man wouldn't be able to recognize him. Easier said than done, though. Even as River started to feel the affects of the knockout drug and stopped struggling against Major Clay's hold, Ian and Shawn were still very much alert and active, and both of them were making things difficult – especially for Moore, who was taking the brunt of the assault.

Payne jumped into the wrestling match as well, grabbing Shawn, who surprised the Captain by slamming a hand into his stomach with a surprising amount of force for someone that young. Payne grunted, and swung his pistol over, slamming the barrel against the younger cadet's head. It wasn't exactly what he'd planned on doing – and it wasn't what he'd been _told_ to do – it was almost an accident that he'd actually landed the blow. But landed it he did, and Shawn stilled instantly, knocked out by the nasty blow. A moment later, Clay' pistol went off with another silent poof and Ian hissed when the dart struck him. He went down far quicker than River did – because of the way his heart was pounding, his blood was circulating far more quickly than River's had been, and the drug was circulated faster. The dark-haired cadet fell in a heap, and Moore struggled out from under him.

"Shit."

"What do we do, Major?" Payne asked, breathing hard as he knelt next to Shawn's inert form, checking for a pulse. There was a fair amount of blood streaking the boy's face.

"You _hit_ him?"

"I didn't have a choice."

Clay scowled, but this wasn't the time or the place to reprimand him. He went over and swung Shawn up and over his shoulder. "Take those two. We'll sort it all out when we get back to the house."

He waited just long enough to watch as Moore picked up Ian in a fireman's carry, and Payne grabbed up River, and then he turned and headed for the hall, certain that the two rangers they'd left in the stairwell would cover their retreat.


	9. 09

"This is not good..."

Clay's scowl stopped Moore from saying anything else, but the Major was just a worried as the Sergeant was. He was right; it wasn't good. Kinsey's information had been incomplete, and there had been an extra cadet in the room – completely unexpected. Even worse, they'd been seen by the other two roommates and had been forced to take them along instead of just knocking them out like they would have preferred. He wasn't sure what to do about that particular problem, but hopefully Kinsey would have something in mind. For now, Clay would just do what he could; keep the cadets separated, tied up and blindfolded until he received his orders.

"Is that kid still bleeding?" Major Clay asked Payne.

_That_ was even worse, Payne hitting the kid to knock him out. He could just as easily have killed him with a blow like that in the dark.

"I don't think so," Payne answered from the back of the dark van they were in. "I'll check him out when we get to the safe-house."

"You'll do that, Captain," Clay said. "And you'll be the one to tell Kinsey if you've managed to kill him, or damage him."

"It wasn't my fault."

"You can tell that to Kinsey, too."

They all knew he wouldn't believe him – or wouldn't care.

"Fucking kid hit me," Moore complained. He wasn't talking about Shawn, though. He was talking about the one who'd come off the top bunk at him. Moore's jaw was swelling already, and there was a definite ache in his side where a kidney punch had landed.

"Yeah, the little one hit me, too," Payne said, scowling. "Big whoop."

"The little one probably doesn't hit as hard..."

"Shut the hell up, both of you."

Clay had had enough of their arguing.

There was silence in the back of the van, now, and Major Clay sighed, silently. He wasn't looking forward to reporting to Kinsey, so he'd wait until they knew how the target was doing before he made the call.

"How long until we're back at the safe-house?" he asked the Lieutenant that was driving the van.

"Ten minutes or so, Sir." He told him. "I could go faster if you-"

"No, don't speed. We definitely don't want to draw attention to ourselves."

OOOOOOOOOO

"Well?"

"It's bruising pretty well..."

"Is he going to be all right?"

Payne shrugged.

"I'm not a doctor, Allen."

"You hit him, Goddamn it. Is he going to be all right or not?"

"He's breathing normally enough, and his heart is beating..." Payne shrugged. "He'll probably be okay."

"Shit."

"I'm sorry."

Clay nodded. It couldn't be helped. He paced the floor of the living room for a moment, debating whether or not to call Kinsey just then or wait and see how the boy was when he woke up. He decided it was better to wait for a chewing out as long as possible and to wait for the boy to wake up.

"Let's go take a look."

He and Payne walked from the living room and towards one of the many holding cells in the house.

The holding cell was small – barely the size of a large closet – and held only a steel cot that was welded to the steel wall. There was a thin mattress on the cot, and a blanket, and resting on the blanket was the very still form of Shawn Adams.

The blood had been washed – more or less – from his head, although it matted his short hair and stained the blanket he was lying on. He was pale – but for all they knew he was pale anyways, so that didn't tell them much – although his ragged breathing told them that he was in some discomfort. No surprise there. There was a huge bruise forming from his temple all the way down his cheek.

"Get him covered up," Clay ordered. "And get an icepack on his head." It'd help the swelling at least. "Are the other two awake yet?"

Payne looked at his watch. It had been about two hours since they'd taken the cadets.

"They should be waking up anytime."

"Let me know when they wake up."

He turned and walked out of the holding cell, leaving Payne to follow his orders.

OOOOOOOOOO

He was sitting on the dock at his cabin, fishing pole in hand but not really paying attention to it since there wasn't a hook on the end anyways. At his side, soaking wet, was Jaffer, who was watching the fish swimming lazily in the water below. Every muscle on the black lab was tense, and he knew that he'd be jumping in the water soon enough, trying to catch himself another fish.

"You know Sam won't let you keep it..." he murmured to the lab.

Jaffer turned and Jack could have sworn he winked at him. Amazed, he turned, looking for Sam to see if she'd seen that – and heard a phone ringing in the distance.

That was odd. He didn't have a phone at the cabin. Only a cell phone, and that was turned off. Sam came out of the cabin just then, holding a telephone in her hand... that was odd, too...

"Jack?"

Someone was shaking him, waking him.

"No..."

"Jack, wake up."

Her serious tone was what made him wake up, not the words themselves. He sat up, immediately, suddenly wide-awake.

"Are you all right?"

"There's a phone call for you," Sam told him. She was wide-awake as well, even though she'd been woken up by the phone only moments before. "It's Commandant Kearns."

"What?"

Jack took the phone from her, looking at his watch. A phone call at 3 AM was not a good thing.

"O'Neill."

"Colonel O'Neill, this is Commandant Kearns of the Air-"

"Yes, Sir. What can I do for you?"

"We have a problem, Colonel."


	10. 10

"Problem?" Jack repeated.

"Uh oh," Sam murmured. "What did they do now?"

The Commandant was silent for a moment, as if trying to gather his thoughts.

"About half an hour ago, on a routine bed-check, we found Shawn missing from his room – along with Cadet Brooks and Cadet Hayden. There's every sign of some sort of struggle, and we found blood on the floor."

"What?"

Jack was up and out of the bed in an instant, and Sam knew from his reaction that whatever it was, it was serious.

"Where are they?"

"We don't know, Colonel. We've searched the school."

"And they're not on the grounds?" Jack asked. "Did you use dogs?" He looked over at Jaffer, who was on his feet on the bed, reacting to Jack's aggravation.

"We don't have trackers, Colonel," came the reply. "And there are cadets all over the school all day. There's no way a dog could follow their trail like that."

Jack could see the truth in that, even as he wondered if Jaffer could track them.

"What-"

"There's more, Colonel." The Commandant said, obviously not relishing the reaction he was going to get to judge from the hesitancy in his voice. "We found fresh blood on the floor of the room, so we're sure one of them is hurt. Or _someone's_ hurt – we're just not sure-"

"Have you called Dotty Adams?"

"Shawn's mother? No. We haven't gotten a hold of any of the parents yet. I called you because I was hoping that you might have heard something from them, if they're off playing at some kind of stunt."

"They wouldn't do something like this." Jack said instantly.

"I agree, Colonel, but I had to check."

"No one heard anything?"

"One of the boys in the room next to theirs says he was woken by the sound of fighting, but that's not uncommon coming from that room. I'm sure you know how-"

"Yes."

Jack was already putting clothes on as he was talking, and Sam had followed his lead.

"I thought you should know, Colonel, and I had hoped you-"

"Don't call the parents yet, Commandant," Jack said. "Give me a while, and I'll see if I can find them."

"Are you coming down?"

"Eventually. I'll be in touch."

He hung up the phone and looked over at Sam.

"Shawn and his roommates are missing."

She nodded; she'd gathered that much from what she'd heard on his side of the conversation.

"What do we-"

"The Commandant doesn't think it's a prank on their part, and I don't see Shawn doing anything like this – or the other two, for that matter – so I agree."

"No Ashrak?" Sam asked, concerned.

"My head doesn't hurt."

"Maybe a Goa'uld?"

Jack shrugged, his mind going through a list of possibilities, but none of them made much sense.

"The first thing we need to do is find them. Then we can ask them."

Sam nodded, pulling on a shirt.

"Is Thor still in orbit, do you think?"

He nodded; she was reading his mind.

"One way to find out."

There were three people on Earth who had instant access to the Asgard when they were in orbit around the planet. One was Shawn Adams, through his little palm pilot thing that Thor had provided him with when his lessons had been changed due to Shawn going to the Air Force academy. One was Andrew Stevens, who could contact Thor's ship through his computer – which he took his lessons on – and the other was Jack O'Neill, who had a small hand-held device that had been given to him by Thor when Shawn had entered the Air Force academy in the event of an emergency, or some other reason he might need to get a hold of the little alien. Jack was never so glad to have it as he was just then.

He reached into the drawer of the stand by his bed. Sitting there next to his Beretta – and Sam's – was the small device, and Jack picked it up and pressed the button. If Thor was in orbit, he'd know Jack needed to talk to him, and would react.

A moment later, Jaffer's ears flattened and the black lab gave a low growl that was all the warning Jack needed. There was a flash of light, and he felt himself being moved from one place to another in an instant. A moment later he was standing on the bridge of Thor's ship and the little alien was coming over.

Jack looked around.

"Bring up Sam and Jaffer, too, Thor." He ordered. "Please."

A moment later, Sam appeared, and right beside her, his ears still flat, was Jaffer.

"Greetings, O'Neill, and-"

"Shawn's missing." Jack didn't have time for extended hellos.

The little alien blinked.

"What?"

"Shawn's missing," Jack repeated. "Did he do his lesson with you this evening?"

"Of course. I would have informed you had he missed one."

"I need you to find him for me, Thor. You can do that, right?"

The Asgard nodded, walking over to his command chair and running his palm along the right arm of the chair. A holographic heads-up display came online, showing the Earth that was spinning lazily below them. A moment later the scene changed to show the North American continent, and a moment after that it zoomed in on the western half of the United States. Obviously it was tracking something, and Jack assumed it was Shawn. Thor's ship would know what Shawn looked like – or whatever it used to find him.

The scene changed once more, and the view was now Colorado, and then it was the area around NORAD. A moment later it was a house, and then it was an infrared display that showed a single life-form.

"He is in a small room in a house on the outskirts of-"

"Can you beam him up?"

"Of course."

A moment later Jaffer growled again, and with a flash of light, Shawn appeared on the floor of the bridge. Unconscious and obviously hurt. Jack rushed over, with Sam and Jaffer right behind her, and he dropped to his knees by the still form.

"River and Ian, Jack." Sam reminded him. If Shawn was hurt, his roommates might be as well.

Jack nodded, looking around the bridge of the Asgard ship with reluctance. There was no other choice for it, and he supposed he could hope that the two other cadets were knocked out as well. Maybe he could get them down to a safe place on the planet before they found out about the Asgard, or even realized that anything odd had happened.

"There's two more missing," Jack said. "One is-"

"His roommates?" Thor asked, interrupting.

"Yes."

Thor moved his hand along the arm of the chair, and a moment later Jaffer was growling again, and there were twin flashes of light. River was sprawled on the floor of the bridge next to Sam and Shawn, apparently unconscious, but Ian had obviously been in the first stages of waking up, because the dark-haired young man was on his knees holding his head.

He looked around, and the first thing he saw was Thor, staring at him.

Ian lunged to his feet, and promptly fell back when his legs decided they weren't ready to support him just yet.

"What the _fuck_?!"


	11. 11

_Ian_ didn't appear to be hurt. That was good.

Sam rolled River over, noting there was a nasty bruise forming on the blonde's deeply tanned chest. In the center of that bruise was a welt that Sam recognized was probably caused by some kind of dart.

"It looks like he was drugged, Jack."

Ian jerked his attention from Thor at the sound of her voice, and realized for the first time that he wasn't alone.

"Thor, I need you to take care of Shawn."

"Of course, O'Neill."

Ian jerked his eyes from Sam, turning them on Jack O'Neill, and then he looked over again, eyes wide as the little whatever it was actually spoke.

"Holy shit..."

Brooks stumbled to his feet, feeling like he'd just woken up in an episode of the Twilight Zone.

"Ian, it's okay," Sam couldn't miss just how pale the cadet was – and she couldn't blame him. She didn't really have time to reassure him, though, not until she was sure River was all right – and Jack had the same problem, since he was holding Shawn. "He's a _friend_."

He shook his head, watching as the little whatever it was moved over to stand next to Jack, holding something that was glowing an odd blue color and leaning over to press it against Shawn's head.

"_No_!"

The cadet lunged forward, certain that it had to be a trick of some sort.

"_Jaffer_!"

The New Yorker's charge at Thor was stopped abruptly as Jaffer responded to Jack's command and cut off Ian's attack. The black lab didn't use his teeth; he simply jumped at Ian – who didn't have a chance. Unsteady already and still reeling from the side-affects of the knockout drugs, he went down in a heap under the weight of the dog, cracking his chin painfully on the floor of the bridge. Jaffer straddled Ian, using his considerable weight to hold the cadet pinned – but the blow to his chin had pretty much stunned him, anyways. He watched in horror as the little whatever it was touched Shawn with the blue thing and it started glowing.

"No! God _Damn_ it, let me up! Leave him alone!"

Then Sam was there, her hands holding him down, but her voice trying to soothe.

"Ian, watch... it's not hurting him. Jack wouldn't let anything hurt Shawn."

He didn't have any choice, anyways. Pinned by the others, he watched helplessly as the blue device continued to get brighter the longer it was held against Shawn's head. A minute later, he heard a gasp of pain from his roommate, and felt more than heard Sam's sigh of relief above him.

Shawn struggled awake, wondering what was going on. When he opened his eyes he was shocked to find himself being held by Jack, who was looking down at him with an expression of relief mingled with concern.

"What happened?" He asked, wincing around the pain in his head.

"That's what I'd like to know..." Jack brushed his hand against Shawn's forehead for just a moment – a tender touch that he couldn't resist – making sure the boy was truly all right, then he let him go reluctantly, and eased him to the floor and stood up.

Looking over at the pile of Sam, Jaffer and Ian, he didn't really have time to wonder what the hell he was going to do about what the cadet had just seen. There were too many unanswered questions, and far too-

"Hey... what the _hell's_ going on...?"

River was sitting up, one hand rubbing his aching chest, the other bracing himself into a sitting position. Wincing against a headache like none he'd ever felt before – another side-affect of the knockout drugs – he looked at the pile of people sprawled in front of him.

"Ian... what...?"

What the hell was Major O'Neill doing sprawled on Ian? And why was the dog – that was Jaffer, he was sure – doing on them? When had they left the academy and how had he gotten to where ever it was he was? And-

"Shit."

He turned at the voice and saw Colonel O'Neill was there as well. River's first thought was that Ian better not let Jack O'Neill catch him with Major O'Neill like that – that would probably get him his ass kicked – and his second thought was to wonder why no one seemed to be wearing much for clothes. He frowned, wondering if this was just some warped dream he was having, and then the alien stood up from where it had been just out of sight behind Jack, doing something on the floor.

"Holy _Christ_!"

River lunged to his feet almost in exact imitation of Ian's earlier motion. And like the New Yorker, found that his legs weren't ready to hold him up just yet. He fell backwards, stumbling, but never took his eye off the little gray form.

"Stop!"

River froze at the order, looking from the... alien?... over to Jack O'Neill, who realized that things were completely out of hand now, and that he needed to get it all sorted out.

"Jaffer, let him up."

The black lab moved off Ian – River just realized that he'd been pinning him down – and moved over to stand by Jack, looking at the cadets cheerfully. Jack reached down and helped Shawn to his feet, giving the young man a bit of much needed support. Shawn shook his head, trying to clear it, and winced. While Thor's device had healed the concussion he'd received from his blow to the head, it hadn't healed him completely, and his head was pounding like a drum.

"You two need to calm down for a minute," Jack ordered, looking at River, who was looking once more at the little... alien?... and trying to regain his feet around his own dizziness and headache. He felt like he was going to throw up, and only the fact that he refused to do so in front of his roommates was holding it back.

"What's going on?"

River turned to Ian, who was getting to his feet as well. The dark-haired cadet looked like he felt about as awful as River did, which actually made the Californian feel a little better. And he'd certainly asked the million dollar question.

"What happened?" Jack asked them, looking at Shawn first.

"What _happened_?" Ian asked, incredulously, looking over at River and then at Shawn and finally down at the little whatever it was that could walk and certainly looked like it was alive to him. "That's a good fucking question..."

"You watch your mouth." Jack ordered.

"Fuck you."

Ian wasn't about to watch his mouth. He wasn't about to do anything. He'd been in his room minding his own fucking business and trying to sleep, then he'd been woken up by some jerk-off bastards toting guns and shit, and if that wasn't bad enough, now he was being attacked by a dog that he'd _thought_ was a good dog – since it belonged to a guy he'd _thought_ was a pretty good guy – only to find out that the guy was in on some kind of fucked-up experiment or something with some kind of walking animatron that was designed to look like aliens. It was all a bunch of bullshit, and he couldn't get out of this nightmare fast enough.

"Where's the door? We're out of here..."


	12. 12

"Ian-"

"Jack," Sam's voice cut into whatever Jack was going to say and he looked over at her. She was just getting to her feet as well. "He's had a rough night, give him a little slack..."

Visibly putting a rein on his own temper – which was flaring – Jack scowled and looked at the dark-haired cadet.

"Tell me what happened."

"How the hell should _I_ know? They're _your_ guys, you ask _them_."

"What?"

"The _guys_... the commando types? The ones that-"

"What commandoes?"

"The ones that woke us up," Shawn said, rubbing his head. "They were military..."

"They're not _my_ guys," Jack said, moving Shawn's hand and trying to get a look at his head to see if there was a cut still. The boy's hair had grown back a bit since he'd had it shaved at the start of the school term, so it covered more now and Jack couldn't see anything. "What happened?"

"They came in our room and were whispering about something or the other..." Ian began, and then he trailed off when he started looking for a door out of the room and saw the main view screen that he'd somehow managed to miss before in his anger and confusion. A whole wall with a moving picture of the earth as it might have been seen from space. That was pretty impressive. He walked towards it, followed numbly by River, who had just noticed the screen as well.

"What were they whispering about?" Jack asked. "Did you hear?"

"What?"

Ian couldn't get his eyes off the screen. The view even made him forget that he was mad about being treated so roughly by O'Neill and his cronies.

Jack went over and put his hand on Ian's bare shoulder, turning him around roughly. He didn't have time for gawking just then; he needed to know what had happened, and Ian was the only one that really seemed all that lucid. Ian shrugged his hand off his shoulder, his dark eyes flashing in renewed anger at yet another conceived assault.

"Stop that, all right? I'm fucking _tired_ of being b-"

"Shut your fucking mouth and tell me what happened."

"I _told_ you! Some guys came into the room, all dressed up in their black pajamas and shit, holding guns and whispering about the one they wanted or something like that. I look down and they're all over the place-"

"How many?"

"Three. Maybe four, but I think three. One was at Hayden's bed, one was at the door and one was pointing a gun at Shawn."

"At Shawn?" Jack looked over at Shawn, who shrugged. He didn't remember anything. All he could remember was a lot of dark and a serious whack to the head. Then nothing since he woke up with Thor hovering over him. The cadet looked over at Thor, then at Jack. What the heck was he going to do about that? There was no mistaking that River and Ian had both seen the Asgard. "What was he saying?"

"I didn't stop to listen."

"What did you do?"

"Tackled the bastard with the gun. We got into it, punches and all that. Next thing I know I'm waking up in some fucking little room with a headache that goes all the way to my gut, and then I find myself here, you and that... whatever the hell it is hovering over Shawn with some glowing brand or something and I'm tackled by your fucking dog and dragged to the ground like some kind of-"

"I get it."

Jack scowled, looking over at River, who was looking at the image of the Earth spinning with a glazed and confused expression on his face.

"Do you have anything to add to that?"

River turned his atteniton to Jack, who saw that he was very pale under that deep tan of his. Whatever the men in dark pajamas had used to knock the cadets out with, River wasn't handling it very well.

"What?"

"Sam?" Jack reached over and put his hand on River's shoulder. "I need you to-"

"Get away from him," Ian snarled, pushing Jack's hand off River. He'd seen how awful Hayden looked, too, and unlike Jack – who didn't know how River normally looked – Ian could tell his roommate looked ready to collapse. What the hell was going on? The last thing he needed was O'Neill roughing him up, too.

A low growl sounded from Jaffer, who didn't like the rough treatment of his Jack – even from a guy that he normally didn't mind so much – and Ian glared down at the dog, too, ready to take on both of them if he had to. "Can't you see whatever you used on him is fucking him up?"

"Jaffer, down." Jack was heartily sick of the cadet accusing him of what had happened, but he could actually see where it would like that to the young man – and he couldn't fault him for trying to defend his own. Jack would have done it, too, after all. "This wasn't us," Jack told the cadet, who had draped River's arm over his shoulder, supporting him before he fell. "I don't know who did it, but I'm going to find out."

He turned to Sam again. "I need you to take these guys down to the SGC –get some medics to check them out and make sure they're all right – and then let Hammond know what's going on."

Sam nodded, and Jack turned to Thor.

"Send them down-"

"I'm not going anywhere," Ian informed Jack. "I don't know what a GSC is, but I'm not going there, and I'm not going to _let_ you take-"

"You're right," Jack said, gesturing for Sam to move over and support River. "You're not going anywhere. You're going to identify the men who did this, and you're going to keep that fucking temper of yours under control while you're doing it or I'm going to boot your ass from here back to New York, do you understand?"

Ian scowled, but his own temper was actually coming under control as he started to realize that O'Neill really didn't seem to have anything to do with what was happening. Why would the guy do anything to mess with Shawn? Of course, that wasn't a question he asked until he'd managed to get past the blazing anger at the shitty night he'd had so far, but now that he was asking it, it was obvious. He wouldn't do anything like this – and he looked just as pissed as Ian felt.

He transferred River to a position where the blonde cadet was leaning on Sam, now, and nodded.

Jack turned to Thor once more.

"Send them down to the SGC, Thor."

Ian watched as the little whatever it was... it looked an awful lot like those Roswell aliens were supposed to... moved over to a chair looking thing and touched it. A second later the cadet's attention was caught by a low growl from Jaffer and a flash of light. Then Major O'Neill, Shawn and River were gone.

"Holy shit!"


	13. 13

Ian stared at the empty space that had only a moment before held his two roommates and Major O'Neill, and Jack couldn't help but be impressed. Aside from the whole swearing like a sailor, and the attitude, the young man was handling all the oddity around him fairly well. It wasn't every day you had people vanishing left and right, and little gray aliens standing less than ten feet away from you, after all. Jack frowned, trying to figure out the best way to quickly explain to Ian what he was seeing, and decided not to bother just yet. Whoever the men in black were, they'd soon be finding out their captives were missing, and Jack needed them in his control before they could report it.

"Thor? Can you scan that house where the boys were and tell me how many more people are there?"

"Of course O'Neill."

Ian's attention went from the empty space over to the Asgard, and his eyes widened as he realized that the whatever it was – his mind refused to say _alien_ – was actually alive and not some kind of animatron like they had at Disneyland on the rides. It moved too smoothly to be a machine, and there was a definite life-ness to it.

"What...?"

"Later, Ian," Jack said. "I'll explain it in a bit."

Well, that was better than shut the hell up, or siccing his dog on him. Ian frowned, but nodded.

"There are five life forms in the building, O'Neill," Thor reported a moment later, looking over at Jack. Ian moved slightly, walking over to stand near O'Neill – who was closer to Thor than he was. Jack looked at him.

"You said _three_."

Ian shrugged.

"I _saw_ three. There could have been more."

"Would you like me to bring them up here?" Thor asked.

"No." The last thing he needed was to have anymore people to explain this to. Besides, who knew what guns they had? Which brought up another slight problem. Jack looked down at himself; he was wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt he'd thrown on when the Commandant of the academy had called. He didn't have a weapon of any sort – except Jaffer, of course, but Jack wouldn't risk his baby with a group of armed men and no back up from himself.

He looked at Ian.

"Was the room you woke up in locked?"

Ian shook his head.

"I didn't check the door. I'd only just woken up and started looking around when I... um..."

"Ended up here."

"Yeah." He looked at Thor again. "It was small, though, and looked a lot like a jail cell – complete with the hardest fucking bed you ever saw. It was probably locked."

"Thor? Can you beam those five guys into those three rooms that the boys were in?"

"If you wish."

"You should knock them out or something, first," Ian said. "They probably have the keys..."

"I was getting to that," Jack told him, scowling. He turned to Thor. "Can you knock them out without permanently hurting them?"

"Knock them out?"

"Render them unconscious," Jack explained, wondering how the little alien had missed that particular phrase in all his years dealing with Shawn.

Thor shook his head.

"I do not believe so, O'Neill. I could transmit an ultrahigh frequency beam that could, conceivably render a group of them unconscious, but I could not pinpoint the beam accurately enough to target only those five. Chances are, it would affect many of the humans in the surrounding area."

"Then I'm going to need my gun."

A moment later there was a growl from Jaffer and a flash of light, and the Beretta from the drawer by Jack's bed appeared out of nowhere. He picked it up. It was Sam's, but he wasn't going to quibble.

"What are you going to do?" Ian asked.

Jack ignored him.

"Thor? Can you show me what the house looks like? Where those rooms are the boys were in? I need to see how close they are to each other."

On the heads-up display there was suddenly a holographic representation of the safe-house, the three small rooms the cadets had been locked in outlined in red. They were fairly close together, but not adjoining. Jack studied it carefully for a moment, and then pointed at the room nearest the end of the hall.

"Move three of them into this room here – just the people, make sure they don't have any weapons beamed over with them. Can you do that?"

"Of course."

That was good.

"Then move the other two into this next room. That way I can get control of all of them easier."

"I can help you," Ian said.

"Jaffer's going to help me. You're going to stay put."

"But-"

"Do what I tell you."

"If you secure both rooms at once, you're not going to have to worry about someone getting away," Ian said. "It's not like they're going to have guns, and if you send Jaffer with me, he can scare them into doing what I tell them to do."

Or he could get Teal'c, but Jack didn't want to wait any longer than he already had. God only knew how the men were going to react when they found the boys gone – and he knew it could happen any minute.

"Fine." Jack looked at Thor again. "Beam three of them into this room, here," he pointed at the place on the end. "Beam the other two there. Then beam me over there," he pointed to the spot right by the door that would hold the three men. "And Ian into the hall here, with Jaffer."

Thor nodded.

"Jaffer, you stay with Ian," Jack said looking down at the lab and gesturing to the cadet. Jaffer walked over and stood beside Brooks, even though he looked like he'd much rather stay with Jack. "Just tell them if they move you'll have him rip their throats out." Jack said. "I'll be there as soon as I secure the ones in the room."

Ian nodded that he understood, and Jack looked over at Thor once more.

"Do it, Thor."


	14. 14

_Author's note: Aww, come on guys. Ian's not that bad; he's just having a really hard day. Yeah, he's got an attitude, and yeah, he's got a nasty temper, but he's not the only one with a bad temper in this story – he's just not as good at hiding it and controlling it as some others are. Besides, not _all _the good guys have to be angels, that would be boring!_

OOOOOOOOO

"I'm going to go check and see if they're waking up."

Major Clay nodded to Payne, who'd spoken up, and then looked over at Moore once the Captain had left the room.

"How's the jaw?"

"It'll be fine, just a bit swollen."

The Sergeant moved the icepack he'd been holding against his jaw, and Clay winced. It was swollen, all right. Already bruising, it was going to look like that kid's cheek in only a matter of hours.

"He really clobbered you, didn't he?"

Moore scowled.

"He got lucky."

"Yeah."

_Real_ lucky.

Moore put the icepack back against his jaw, more to keep his CO from looking at the evidence that he'd probably lost that fight with that cadet than because of any hope that the cold would keep the swelling down. There was too much swelling to hope that mere ice could help.

OOOOOOOO

The entire basement of the safe-house was a warren of cells in two small hallways. The basement itself was soundproof, since it wouldn't do to have the neighbors hearing anyone who might be visiting the place against their will, after all, and there was only one way in or out. Through the basement door which at that moment was guarded by Lieutenant Marcus Chambers.

The Lieutenant was the youngest of the five – only a few years older than the cadets he was guarding – but Payne rather liked him.

"Heard anything from them yet?" He asked as he walked over to the door.

Chambers shook his head, smiling. He was pretty sure that the moment they woke up they'd be shitting their pants to find themselves in such an unfriendly place. Probably crying or screaming to be let go, and maybe even threatening them with what their father was going to do when he found out what was going on.

"Not a peep."

Payne looked at his watch. The drugs should be wearing off any time.

"Be right back."

Chambers nodded, and leaned against the door as he watched Payne head down the short staircase to the first hall. Less than a minute later he heard a loud curse, though, and turned and headed down the stairs as well, taking them two at a time. Payne was standing in front of the cell that held the primary target – the cadet that had been hit with the butt of the Captain's gun. Correction; the cell that _had_ held the cadet. It was empty.

"What the..."

Payne turned on Chambers.

"_Where is he_?"

"No one went past me!"

He reached out and tugged on the door to the little cell – it was locked.

"He didn't get up and fly away, Lieutenant," Payne said, tugging on the door as well, swearing again when he couldn't get it to open. The door was locked! How did the kid get out? He brushed past Chambers, and headed down the hall, stopping in front of the cell that held the cadet with the bright ugly pajamas. It was empty, too.

"_Shit_! Go get Major Clay!"

Payne went over to look in the other cell, only to find the dark-haired cadet was gone as well – not that he was surprised, now. If one had vanished, of course they all had. But where had they gone? And _how_?

He heard the clatter of boots on the stairs, and went back to the first cell, pulling the key out of his pocket and unlocking it then going inside and lifting the blanket – even though there was absolutely no way the cadet could be hiding under the blankets.

"Sonofabitch..."

"What's going on, Captain?"

He turned and saw Clay standing at the door, and he shook his head.

"I don't know, Sir. Chambers said he didn't se anyone go past him, but they're not –"

"Where _are_ they?"

Clay had turned on Chambers, who was pale and visibly shaken.

"I don't _know_, Sir! I swear they didn't get past me! Nothing-"

He was interrupted by a flash of brilliant white light, and felt something grab him. A moment later – and another flash of brilliant light – and he found himself standing in one of the cells. Before Chambers had time to register any more than that, there was another bright flash, and out of nowhere he was joined by Moore, who looked just as shocked as he, himself, felt.

"What the hell-"

"Not very fun, is it?"

The two men turned and saw one of their captives suddenly standing on the other side of the cell door, looking slightly battered but very much awake. At his side was a huge black dog, who was watching them intently.

Moore reached into his shirt to grab for his gun – only to find it wasn't there. The black dog growled warningly, and a formidable row of very sharp teeth were suddenly plain to see.

"What the fuck is going on?"

Ian didn't answer him. He was watching the two men just as intently as Jaffer was, and he knew immediately that the one with the bruise on his jaw was the one that he'd gotten into the fight with.

Either too shocked to be afraid of the dog, or unaware of the warning the lab was sending him, Chambers lunged against the door of the cell, determined to get out and either fight or run – he hadn't actually decided which one just then. He only knew he wanted out.

There was a blood-curdling snarl and the impossibly large dog lunged against the door of the cell from the other side, his teeth raking Chambers' fingers where they'd wrapped around the bars. The Lieutenant fell backwards with a yelp of pain, clutching fingers that were suddenly slashed wide open.

"Do it again, and he'll go for your throat." Ian warned the man, his dark eyes smoldering with anger.

Payne knew that the kid wasn't bluffing; he'd really set that dog on them if he could.

"What's going on? How did you-"

"None of your fucking business," Ian told him. Of course, he didn't have a _clue_ how he'd managed to escape and get back, so even if he'd wanted to tell him – fat chance – he wouldn't have been able to, anyways. Better to keep them off guard by acting like he knew exactly what was going on.


	15. 15

_Author's Note: Hehe, I'm a child psychologist; I work through aggressions for a living!_

OOOOOOOOO

At the same moment that Moore and Chambers were finding themselves confined to one of the small cells in an impossible manner, the other three members of the unit were being treated in the exact same fashion. Clay, who was already in the cell that had held Shawn Adams didn't get transferred at all; he simply watched in amazement as two more of his men joined him – Payne and a Staff Sergeant named Ben Graf.

"What the hell?"

Stunned at the sudden appearance and the flash of light, Clay reached for his gun – only to find that even though he hadn't been moved anywhere, his weapons had still been taken away. The other two reacted in a similar manner, but neither of them had a weapon, either. Just a pair of empty holsters. There was another brilliant flash which drew all their attention, and out of nowhere appeared a stranger, barefoot and standing right in front of the open door of the cell with a gun pointed right at them.

"Who the _hell_ are you?" Clay demanded, taking a step forward.

Jack cocked the Beretta, and the noise rang through the cell ominously.

"Step back."

His voice was as soft as Major Clay's had been loud, but there was no mistaking what he'd said, and there was no hiding the glint of anger in his dark eyes – not as close as they were to each other. Clay stopped instantly, his hands coming up just slightly to show the stranger that he wasn't armed – and how the hell had _that_ happened?

"Easy, buddy... we don't want any trouble-"

"Oh, you _have_ trouble," Jack told him. "More trouble than you'll ever be able to handle." He looked at the three, instantly sizing Clay up as the leader – at least of these three. Ian had been told to shout if he needed help, and Jack hadn't heard anything, so he was assuming that between the cadet and the formidable presence of Jaffer, the two were doing all right on their own.

"Who are-"

"Get undressed," Jack said. "All of you. Now."

"_What_? I'm not-"

Jack pointed Sam's Beretta at Clay, and the Major could actually see the finger on the trigger start to tighten. The cold look in the brown eyes of the man told him that there was no remorse that he was going to kill him, and Clay knew instantly and without a doubt that he'd shoot him.

"Wait!"

The finger relaxed marginally, but the look never compromised.

"Look, buddy... we-"

"Last chance." He turned the gun slightly, pointing it at Payne, and the Captain's fingers went to his shirt buttons. A move that was almost immediately followed by Graf. Clay took only a moment longer, but with a scowl, he, too, began undressing.

Forcing them to undress had more than one purpose. First of all he had to make sure they didn't have the keys to the cells on them, and the best way to do that was to remove any pockets. Second of all, and even more important, it would give Jack a definite psychological advantage when he started asking questions. A mostly naked man has a lot of trouble trying to stand up to you and would be far more compliant than one in full uniform.

As he watched them, making sure that they didn't take anything – like keys or anything that might be used as a weapon – out of their pants and shirts while taking them off, Jack sized up each man, debating which one to start with. He recognized their uniforms as Army special ops, but that didn't actually mean they were in the Army – you could buy those uniforms at any surplus store. On the other hand, they had Military bearings about them that told Jack they probably were in the Military – and almost definitely were Army Rangers.

"Toss your clothes out of the cell," Jack told them, moving slightly out of the way so they couldn't try to throw them at him and then rush him. The Beretta in his hand never wavered, and didn't stop tracking the closest of the men – the one Jack had pegged as the leader.

Clay did as he was told; standing in just his underwear as he carefully tossed his uniform and boots out of the door. Then he moved aside so Graf and Payne could do the same. Jack watched them carefully, more than ready for them to do something stupid and brave – and more than willing to shoot one of them for doing it. He wouldn't kill them – he still wanted to know what was going on – and he wanted to find out which one of them had hit Shawn, but he'd drop any of them or all of them if he needed to. A man with a bullet in his knee will still be able to tell you what you want to know.

When he had a pile of clothes outside the cell, he simply reached over with his free hand and shut the cell door. He heard a click, and double-check it by pulling on it. It was locked. Kicking the clothes well out of reach, Jack finally lowered the Beretta and nodded.

"I'll be back."

He turned and headed for the other hall, where Ian and Jaffer were.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Clay yelled, practically sputtering in anger at being forced to undress and then being left in the cell like he had been. It was a lot easier to be righteously indignant when you didn't have a gun pointed at you, after all. When he didn't get an answer, he tried even louder. "_Hey_!"

Jack vanished around the corner, and a moment later came to where Jaffer and Ian were standing guard over two very sullen men who looked like they were probably the youngest of the five.

"Any troubles?" Jack asked, noting that one of the two men was clutching a bleeding hand. Almost definitely compliments of Jaffer. The other one was sporting a nasty bruise on his jaw, which was swollen and disfigured. That couldn't have been done by Jaffer, and it was swollen enough that it hadn't been done in the last ten minutes or so.

Ian shook his head.

"No, Sir. They're not going anywhere."

He'd had a few minutes now to get his own equilibrium back, and being on the other side of a cell door and able to stare down the people that had attacked you for no discernable reason was good therapy for him. His anger was mostly gone, now, replaced by a desire for vengeance. Which he was going to get, he was certain.

Jack nodded, and looked over at the two men.

"Get undressed."

Moore's eyes went wide.

"What? Fuck-"

Jack pulled the Beretta from his pants and pointed it through the bars at the Sergeant, who paled.

"Get undressed this minute or I'm going turn the dog loose on you."

Chambers was reaching for his belt in an instant. He didn't want anything more to do with that dog that was for sure. Moore hesitated a moment longer, obviously debating whether or not he could try something and how successful it'd be. Of course, since he wasn't holding a gun and the other guy was, he was pretty sure he wouldn't succeed at whatever he might try.

"Hand your clothes through the bars," Jack ordered, gesturing for Ian to take them. When the cadet moved, Jack was pleased to see he didn't have to tell him not to step between himself and the men. Ian stayed out of the way, giving Jack a clear line of fire – either that or he didn't want to step in front of that weapon himself, which was entirely possible. He moved over to the cell wall, which was comprised of bars just like he'd described to Jack, and piece by piece he took the clothing the men passed through the bars to him. Soon they, too, were standing in the small room wearing nothing but their underwear, and not feeling quite so confident.

"What now?" Ian asked.

"Do you recognize either of them?"

The cadet pointed at Moore, who felt his stomach clenching and suddenly needed to use a bathroom in the worst way.

"He's one of them, I know."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, Sir." Ian nodded. "He's the one I was wrestling with."

"The one who hit Shawn?"

"I don't think so... it was dark, though, but I-"

"I didn't hit that kid!" Moore said quickly, pretty sure what they were talking about, and definitely wanting that burden off his shoulders.

Jack pointed the Beretta at him.

"Who did?"

Moore hesitated. There was denying it himself, and then there was ratting out someone else. A fellow teammate. Moore wasn't quite so ready to do that.

Jack sighed and cocked the gun, looking like he was really going to regret the fact that he was going to have to kill this one. Moore noticed the look instantly, and he lost all desire to protect the Captain.

"Payne!" he said, closing his eyes and wishing he were anywhere but where he was. "It was Captain Payne!"

Jack looked at the other occupant in the room, and the young man paled as well, shaking his head furiously.

"Not me, I swear!"

If he'd been in a better mood, Ian might have laughed to see the two men shaking like they were, but he'd been watching Jack O'Neill intently, and knew there was a reason for them to be afraid. The Colonel was more than ready to shoot either of them to get the information he wanted from them, and even Ian could see it. He shivered slightly, too.

Jack turned to Ian, but if he noticed that the cadet was suddenly covered in goose bumps, he didn't say anything. Lowering the Beretta, he reached over and picked up one of the discarded uniform jackets.

"Put that on before you catch cold."

He was, after all, still only wearing sweats and the basement was chilly.

As Ian did what he was told, Jack turned to the captives once more.

"Who's your Commanding officer? Captain Payne?"

Chambers shook his head.

"Major Clay."

"Ian, you come with me," Jack said once the cadet had managed to get his arms through the arms of the jacket. "We're going to sort a few things out. Jaffer, guard."

The black lab turned from Jack, whom he'd been watching, and put his full attention on the two men in the cell.

"Don't try to leave the cell, gentlemen," Jack warned them almost companionably. "It'd be a big mistake."

Without a backwards glance, he moved to the other hallway once more, trailed by Ian, who wondered what was going to happen next.


	16. 16

It was pure chance that Janet Frasier was in the infirmary at the SGC when Thor 'beamed Sam in with the two cadets. Normally on a Monday night (Tuesday morning) at 3 or 4 am, Janet would be snug in bed sound asleep – either alone or with Emmett, but that was beside the point. This particular morning, she'd never left the SGC the night before. One of the members of SG-9 had been badly injured in a fall the day before, and Janet had been in the operating room with the young woman for almost five hours, and had then stayed close to wait and make sure everything was working right once the swelling started to go down.

Therefore, when the sudden flash of light surprised all of the late duty medics, Janet was among them, and when Sam suddenly appeared in that flash of light – along with two very dazed-looking cadets – Janet was the first one to reach her.

"Sam?"

"Janet, what are you still doing here?"

"Waiting for Lieutenant Hoff to wake up." She looked at Shawn and River. "What are you doing here with them? And is Thor involved? Where's-"

"I'll explain it all to you in a minute, Janet," Sam said, taking River's arm and pulling him along towards one of the beds. "Shawn was knocked out with a blow to the head – but Thor seems to have taken care of most of that – River, on the other hand was hit with something else, and he doesn't seem to be coming out of it very quickly."

Instantly, Janet was in doctor mode. She went over to the bed, pushing the dazed young man down onto it so she wouldn't have him towering over her. She immediately saw the welt and the bruise on his chest from the point-blank shot from the dart gun and was good enough at her job that she knew immediately what it was from, and how close the barrel had been when it'd gone off. She pulled out a penlight and checked his pupils, and then started asking him questions. None of which he was really able to answer.

"Is he going to be okay?" Shawn asked, his own head aching so badly he was squinting in the light of the infirmary, but not about to complain when Fraiser seemed so serious when she was dealing with River.

"It looks like a reaction of some sort to whatever it was he was drugged with," Janet said, more to herself than to answer Shawn. "It's not impossible that he's allergic to whatever it was. I'll do some blood work and see what comes back."

"I'm fine," River told her, objecting for the first time, and flinching when she put her stethoscope against his bare chest. "Where'd the little alien guy go?"

"Take a deep breath," Janet told him.

"I'm fine."

"Deep breath," Janet repeated, poking him in the side with her finger.

River took a deep breath for her. Janet moved the stethoscope to another spot and had him repeat the breath, which he did without making her tell him twice.

"His lungs are clear," she said, "And his heart isn't stressed. I'll still do a blood series, because his pupils aren't focusing right, and he seems a little out of it." She gestured for a medic to come over and gave a few orders, then turned to Shawn.

"What happened to you?"

He scowled – looking so much like Jack just then that Janet couldn't help but smile – and shook his head.

"Someone hit me."

"At school?" She looked over at Sam even as she motioned for him to sit on the bed next to the one River was sitting on.

"Yeah."

"It's more complicated than that, Janet," Sam said, clearly worried. "We got a call an hour ago that the boys were missing from their room without a trace – although there was a sign of struggles and blood on the floor – and Jack called in Thor, and had him find Shawn. Turns out, all three of them are knocked out in little rooms in some house somewhere."

"What?"

"Someone kidnapped them."

"Who?"

"That's what Jack's finding out now."

"Where's the other one?" Janet couldn't remember the name.

"He's with Jack."

"You'd better go call General Hammond, Sam, and let him know what's going on. If Colonel O'Neill runs into trouble, he's going to need a bit more backup than just one cadet."

"He has Jaffer," Sam said, absently, watching as Frasier ran gentle hands over Shawn's scalp, feeling for a bump or anything, and then started running the same tests on the younger cadet that she had on River. "But you're right; I'd better go let him know what's going on. It's way too convenient that it's Shawn these guys were going after."

"I'll keep an eye on them while you're gone."

She nodded, and touched Shawn's leg. "I'll be right back."

"I'll be here, I guess." Unless someone else clobbered him over the head and took him somewhere else – or Thor 'beamed' him somewhere.

Sam left, and Janet finished examining Shawn. He seemed fairly aware of what was going on around him – although he did squint when the light hit his eyes, and he winced when her fingers touched a particularly sore spot on his head.

"You're going to have to start wearing a helmet or something," Janet told him, smiling as she broke open a plastic ice pack and shook the contents to get it cold. "Otherwise you're going to end up addled before you're old enough to drive."

OOOOOOOOOOOO

In his penthouse hotel room on the far end of the city, Vice President elect Robert Kinsey was sitting by the phone. He'd been sitting by the phone every night for the last few days, anxiously waiting for the phone call that would tell him that Jack O'Neill's son was fully in his control – a call he just couldn't wait to receive. He'd spent the last few days debating just what he'd do to the boy – sometimes he would be happy with the mere thought of scaring O'Neill by allowing him to have his boy missing for several days (he hoped that Major Clay took the boy before Thanksgiving, just to _really_ hurt O'Neill) – and other times, when he burned with hatred remembering his last conversation with O'Neill, he wanted nothing more than to send the boy's body back to Jack O'Neill in tiny, bloody pieces. Maybe attached to a Christmas card.

Either way, he was undecided as to what he was going to do with the boy once he had him, but he couldn't wait to get him. So he sat by the phone and he waited.


	17. 17

_Author's Note: Kinsey will eventually get his, I promise. But it's going to take a bit of lead up to make it sound good and not forced – so you all have to be patient and try to enjoy the ride._

OOOOOOOO

"What now, Colonel?"

Jack looked over at the cadet, wondering if he should call Thor and have the Asgard send him to the SGC as well. He decided against it – there wasn't any danger, really, and he could use the extra person, if for nothing more than an intimidation factor. Jack knew the men in the cells were the ones who'd snuck into the school and kidnapped the Cadets, and since _they_ knew Ian was one of the ones they'd taken, they had to wonder what connection Jack had with the boy – he'd already more than proven to each set of men that he was more than willing to shoot any one of them. That, too, would intimidate them.

O'Neill was very good at intimidation, and he knew how to use every advantage he had. One man, a freshman cadet and a dog – no matter how large – should not have been a match for five well-armed and well-trained men, but add the help from Thor to completely throw out the early discipline and unsettle them, then add the fact they were locked in their own cells and almost naked, and the five men were now well on their way to giving Jack the information he wanted, whether they knew it or not.

"Now, we find out who is so interested in you guys," Jack said, just loud enough for Ian to hear him. "I'm going to go have a talk with the other guys. I want you to go take a look through the house and see if you can find another weapon – preferably a pistol. Stay away from the windows unless they're shaded, and don't touch anything you don't recognize. And stay away from the phones. Okay?"

"Yes, Sir."

Jack pointed to a staircase that led upwards. He'd seen it when he'd passed it on his way to join Ian at the other cell and had assumed it led to the rest of the house.

"There shouldn't be anyone else in the house, but if someone pulls up, or shows up, haul ass back down here and get me."

"Yes, Sir."

Ian went up the stairs, and Jack finished his walk to the other cell.

The three men there were all still standing, with various degrees of consternation in their expressions. They had been talking in low tones but when O'Neill showed up, they all went silent, and looked at him.

Jack stood just out of arm's reach in front of the cell, and crossed his arms over his chest, the Beretta negligently held in his right hand – with a far better grip than it appeared.

"Who are you?" Clay asked, stepping right up to the cell door, obviously trying to bluster, even though he wasn't in any position to. Jack didn't bat an eye, and he certainly didn't take a step back when Clay had stepped forward as the man had probably expected him to.

"I'm the man with all the questions," Jack told them. "Questions you're going to answer."

"I'm not answering _shit_."

"Ah." O'Neill allowed a mocking look to come to his eyes, and Clay hated that smug look immediately, and lost his temper – which was exactly what Jack expected him to do.

"I'm _serious_! You can't just come in here and lock us up and-"

"You had no problem going to the Air Force academy and kidnapping three cadets – the future of the Air Force, I might add – and locking them up," Jack interrupted, scowling and allowing just a shred of the fury that was smoldering just below the surface to show in his expression. "Not to mention the way you roughed them up."

"That was an accident."

This was said by one of the other men, and Jack looked at him, and immediately knew that this was the one who'd hit Shawn.

"He's 14," Jack said (and now his voice was barely suppressed fury – and he _wasn't_ acting) "There are five of you. Obviously, you went in intending to hurt."

"No, we were only told to-"

"_Shut up!"_

Clay turned on Payne and visibly restrained the urge to hit his second in command for giving away so much information. The man was better trained than that. He should have known that this stranger was fishing for information. The bad part was, he had Payne so flustered that he was getting it.

"Told by _who_?" Jack asked.

"Who the hell are you?" Clay asked again, trying to turn the man's attention from Payne back to himself. Jack allowed himself to be distracted, but he wasn't fooled for a moment.

"That's _classified_."

"Air Force?" Clay asked, guessing. "You don't know what you're getting into here," he told the stranger, wrapping his fingers around the bars of the cell door and leaning even closer, making sure the stranger could see just how sincere he was. "You're making a huge mistake getting involved in this, and it's going to get you _buried_."

Jack wasn't impressed, but he hid that, too. He'd seen far more than this Major could even imagine, and there was nothing in this room that could intimidate him. Hell, there wasn't anything on the _planet_ that could.

"Oh, yeah? Who's going to be holding the shovel? Who is so interested in these kids that they'd send a group of Army Rangers after them? What were you going to do with them?"

"_Fuck you_. I'm not telling you-"

A shot rang out, echoing through the entire basement, and Captain Payne went down with a squeal of agony, blood flowing freely from the bullet wound in his knee. Clay wheeled around, looking at his downed second in command, and then turning to look at Jack, pale with fury.

"You _sonofabitch_!"

Jack pointed the Beretta at Payne once more, cocking the hammer back. He had no problem shooting the bastard again, and it showed in his dark eyes.

"What were you supposed to do with the boys once you captured them?"

Furious, and completely helpless, Major Clay knew the look he saw in the stranger's eyes. There was no remorse. He'd shoot Payne – or Graf – until Clay told him what he wanted to hear. There was no hope that someone would hear the shot and call the police, either – the basement was soundproofed just for this reason.

OOOOOOOOO

Up in the house proper, Ian had had no trouble finding weapons. There were all sorts. Pistols and machine guns and all sorts of other commando paraphernalia – it was like a buffet for a survivalist community. The cadet didn't bother with the machine guns; they were intimidating, yes, but they were big and bulky compared to a pistol, and they were worthless in close quarters. He picked up one pistol and stuck it in the waistband of his sweats, and then grabbed up another one, checking the load on it before heading back for the basement. Two guns should be enough, right? He headed back for the basement, wondering if Colonel O'Neill had figured out a way to make the men talk.


	18. 18

_Author's Note: No, the chapters are getting shorter... although usually I try to make them about the same length, sometimes the best place to stop just comes a little sooner. Hopefully it's just you wrapped up in the story._

OOOOOOOOOO

"We weren't supposed to take anyone but the Adams kid," Major Clay said, stepping slightly to the left and placing himself between that Beretta in the stranger's hand and Captain Payne. "The other two were an accident. Our intel was wrong."

There was a movement behind Jack, and he turned to see Ian had returned, and was carrying a Glock 20 – which was a 10mm German made pistol. The cadet stopped when he saw the Captain on the floor, his leg a bloody mess from the bullet wound, but he didn't turn green or pale – which was good, since Jack didn't want the men in the cell to think that someone here felt sorry for them. He motioned for Ian to stay there, and then turned back to the Major.

"What were you supposed to do with Adams?"

Clay hesitated, and Jack cocked Sam's Beretta once more, although now that Ian was in the area he was a bit more concerned about actually _firing_ the weapon – since he didn't want to run the risk of a ricochet striking the cadet. Obviously Clay didn't realize that.

"We were just suppose to hold him until we checked in – I don't know what we were going to be told to do."

"Who sent you?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Sure you can." Jack moved the gun, sighting it at the Captain once more, and Payne tried to duck out of the way.

"It was _Kinsey_!" The Captain cried out. "Kinsey sent us!"

"_Vice President_ Kinsey?" Ian asked, speaking up for the first time, shocked.

Jack scowled.

"He's not the Vice President, yet."

Kinsey. That _sonofabitch_. Jack couldn't even be surprised – although he didn't know how Kinsey knew that Shawn was related to him. Probably some NID connection or something – or maybe an informant in the SGC who overheard something or saw something and had no trouble putting the two together. Whatever it was, Jack was certain now that Shawn wasn't going to have made it out of this house in one piece.

Fury welled up inside him, and the Beretta that had lowered when his question was being answered came up once more. These men were going to do something – he didn't know what, but something – to his son! _His son_. They didn't know who the target was, obviously, or that he was related to Jack, and they didn't care that he was just a boy. But they'd care, now. He'd make sure they knew the penalty for hurting – or threatening – one of Jack's own. The finger on the trigger tightened.

"Colonel!"

Ian had read the fury on O'Neill's face just as plainly as if he'd read his mind, and it was a scary thing to see. He hadn't reacted to it, though, until he saw that Jack was going to shoot them. Maybe all of them. Then he'd spoken up. Not because he didn't want them to pay – because he did. Or maybe he couldn't handle the thought of watching someone get shot – already there was a lot of blood on the floor from the gunshot in the other guy's leg – maybe Ian just hadn't wanted to add to it. He didn't know – and never would.

Jack turned to him, the voice breaking through the rising tide of anger and bringing him back to his senses. He needed these men alive – at least for now. He looked at Ian, who was just a little pale now – and then turned back to Clay, who was _very_ pale. He'd seen the Killer rise up in the stranger's expression, and had known in that instant that he was going to die. Right up until the kid spoke up.

"How were you going to contact Kinsey?"

There was no hesitation from Clay this time.

"I was supposed to call him and check in with him once we made the extraction."

Jack considered his options for just a moment. He had the foot soldiers, but he wanted the General on this one. Kinsey would pay.

"Ian, look through the pockets of those uniforms and see if you can find a key to this cell." He pointed the gun at Clay once more, "Step back from the door."

The Major did as he was told, even as Brooks started rifling through the pockets of the discarded clothing. It wasn't hard to find the keys; he just listened for the jingle. But it took a little longer to find one that looked like it might have fit the odd-looking lock on the cell door. Finally, though, he chose one that was probably the right one.

"I think I have it."

Jack nodded, watching the men intently, with absolutely no expression on his face. They, in turn, watched him with fear.

"This is what's going to happen," O'Neill said. "You're going to come with me and make a phone call." He told Clay. "You other two are going to stay here under the guard of young Ian here and hope to hell that he doesn't decide that you should pay for roughing him and his buddies up – he's got quite the temper, you know."

Jack gestured for Ian to open the door, and the cadet tucked his Glock into his waistband with the other gun he'd taken, and went forward to open the door, making sure to stay out of the line of fire so the three men couldn't use him as a shield from Jack's gun.

He needn't have worried; Payne had no intention of doing anything – he hurt way too bad to do much more than clutch his shattered knee – and the other two had correctly read O'Neill as someone not to fuck with. When Jack gestured Major Clay out of the cell, he went carefully, making sure he didn't make any sudden moves that might trigger something that he would regret.

Ian closed the door behind him, giving it a hard tug to make sure it was locked. Then he looked at Jack.

"The Major and I are going to go find a phone," O'Neill told the cadet. "You guard these guys. If they do anything – and I mean _anything_ – to make you think they're trying something stupid, I want you to shoot them. Do you understand?"

Ian nodded, pulling the Glock once more. Jack wasn't done, yet. He wanted to make _sure_ the men were going to behave.

"If you _are_ forced to shoot them, no one will ever know. I won't tell anyone, and obviously if you actually kill them, they won't either. So don't let them tell you otherwise. And don't listen to anything they might try to tell you."

"I won't."

Ian stepped over the pile of clothes, his Glock not actually pointed at the men in the cell but in a position where it could be in an instant.

"You got them?" Jack asked, this time to make sure Ian really wasn't afraid to be left alone in such a situation.

The cadet nodded, and Jack was reassured to see that there wasn't any fear in his dark eyes, just determination.

"Go ahead and do what you're going to do, Colonel. I'm fine."

"You shoot them if you have to."

"I will."

Jack nodded, and turned to Clay.

"Let's go."


	19. 19

_Author's note: Sorry this one took so long. I had it typed out once and it was accidentally erased, and then I was so miffed I went to my bedroom and pouted for a while before coming out and redoing it. So here it is!_

OOOOOOOO

"If you do anything stupid, you _do_ know I'll shoot you, right?"

Major Clay nodded, reaching for the phone that was on the table.

"Acknowledge it," Jack said, his brown eyes as deadly as the weapon in his hand.

"I know that if I do anything stupid you'll kill me."

"I didn't say _kill you_; I said 'shoot you'," Jack corrected, picking up a cordless extension so he could listen in on the phone call.

Clay nodded, his face an unhealthy pasty color.

"Make sure you mention to Kinsey that there was an extra roommate, and that you had to take all three of them."

Clay didn't even ask why, he just nodded again and started dialing the number he knew by heart. There was an answer on the second ring.

"Kinsey."

Jack felt a surge of fury at the excitement in the voice that answered the phone. The bastard sounded like he was drooling, for God's sake.

"This is Major Clay, Sir."

"You're calling late."

"We had a few problems."

"Did you get him?"

Clay looked over at Jack, who didn't bother to nod or coach him. The Major knew what to say, and knew the consequences of what the wrong words would bring.

"Yes, Sir. We got the target."

"Excellent."

Jack's jaw clenched at the eagerness in Kinsey's voice, but he didn't say anything or make any noise that might give his presence away.

"We have a problem, though, Sir," Clay said, hesitantly, his green eyes locked on Jack's brown ones.

"_Problem_?"

"Your intel was incomplete. There weren't _two_ students in the room; there were three. We ended up being forced to take them all."

"You have three cadets there?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Please tell me you weren't seen..."

"The cadets have seen us, Sir. It was unavoidable. But no one else did."

There was a slight pause as Kinsey thought it out, and Jack wondered what was going through the sonofabitch's mind. He found out a moment later.

"It's too late to do anything right now – I have a breakfast I have to show up at in only a few hours – so I want you to hold on to those cadets."

"What are you orders, Sir?"

"Hold them in the cells at the house." Kinsey told him. "It'll give O'Neill a chance to find out..." This last was said in a softer, far more smug tone of voice and Jack thought it sounded like he was talking to himself. "What kind of condition are they in?"

Clay looked at Jack.

"They're fine, Sir..."

"That'll have to be changed," Kinsey said.

"Yes, Sir."

"But don't do anything until I get there," Kinsey said. "I want to watch for myself."

"Yes, Sir. When will you be here?"

"Not until this evening. Keep the cadets in their cells and don't go anywhere. I'll be by after dark."

"Yes, Sir."

The line went dead, and Jack waited for Major Clay to hang up before he did.

"He said _O'Neill_..." Clay said once the phones had been hung up.

"Yeah, I heard that, too.

"What did he mean?"

"Who cares?" Jack pointed the Beretta at the man once more. No sense in letting the Major know who he was; that would just complicate things. "Let's get back down and make sure your men are behaving themselves."

OOOOOOOOO

"He's _going_ to bleed to death..."

"So you've said." Ian's voice was a fair match for Jack's when he was at his coldest, but he was getting heartily tired of the man trying to convince him to let them go. He'd started only a moment after jack and the other guy had left, and hadn't let up.

"We need to get him to a _doctor_, God damn it!"

Ian didn't answer. He looked at the steadily growing pool of blood that was forming around Payne, who was lying on the floor of the small cell at a very awkward angle, but the gun he was pointing at the two never wavered.

"God damn it, kid! Listen to me. This isn't some kind of fucking _game_, you know. He-"

Ian pulled the other weapon out of the waistband of his sweats and pointed it at Sergeant Graf, causing the man to stop what he was saying.

"I didn't tell you guys to come," Ian said. "I didn't tell you to sneak into my room and attack me and my friends and I sure as _fuck_ didn't tell your buddy to hit Shawn over the head with a gun and knock him out."

'That was an accident. We-"

"I don't give a shit! He can fucking bleed to death for all I care."

Ian knew that the soldiers would never have taken him or his roommates to a doctor if they needed it, and he'd _never_ been one to believe in turning the other cheek. If not for O'Neill, he, Shawn and River would almost definitely be on the other side of that cell and probably facing the business end of a gun themselves, and he was sure there'd have been no mercy.

"You're _dead_, kid," Graf said; his own temper breaking in the strain of watching his companion bleeding – although he wasn't really bleeding to death; he'd just been hoping to scare the kid into calling for a doctor, or any witness. "When I get out of this cell, you little mother fucker, I'm going to track you down and strangle you with-"

"Fuck you." Ian pointed the gun at Graf and pulled the trigger.

OOOOOOOOOO

A shot rang out just as Jack and the Major were heading down the stairs to the basement.

"_Shit_!"

"Holy Shit!"

Without O'Neill telling him to do anything, Major Clay broke into a run, heading for the cell he'd been let out of only a half hour before with Jack right behind him. Both men came to a stop as Ian turned at the sound of their approach, his Glock coming up and swinging towards them.

"Ian, no!"

Jack held up his hands, making sure the cadet knew he was him, and was relieved when the deadly gun was lowered. He looked at the cell. Graf was lying on the floor of the cell, clutching his side and gasping.

_"You shot him!"_

Clay swung at the cadet before he could remember that Jack was even there, and found himself tangled in a crushing bear hug from behind as O'Neill grabbed him and immobilized the Major with surprising ease.

"Owwww!"

"Don't even _think_ about it," Jack murmured in a soft voice a he put pressure on Clay's arm, almost taking it to the point where he'd break it.

"He _shot_ him!"

"So I see..." Jack looked at Ian. "Unlock the cell."

The cadet put the other gun back in his waistband, and hurried to do what the Colonel told him to. He opened the door, and Jack pushed Clay into it, pulling it shut behind him. The Major dropped down next to Graf, who was now still, and Jack turned to Ian, incredulous.

"You _shot_ him?"

"He called me a mother fucker." Ian said, defensively. "You _said_ I could shoot them."

"If they did anything-"

Ian grinned, suddenly, and pulled the gun out of his waistband once more.

"Relax, Colonel. He's not dead or anything." He handed the gun to Jack, who saw it was a dart gun of some sort, designed with a barrel that could hold a silencer – and probably was the kind of weapon the Rangers had used on the cadets when they'd invaded the academy dorm that evening. "I just wanted to shut him up."


	20. 20

_Author's Note: The Glock isn't the dart gun; they're two completely different weapons. Ian picked them both up when he was rummaging around the upstairs of the safe house._

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jack had to smile. He honestly couldn't help himself. He _did_ turn his head so Clay couldn't see how amused he was – he wanted the Major afraid of him, after all, and it's hard to fear a giggling man – but he had to admit that Ian had definitely pulled off a stunt that was something he, himself, would have done.

He looked at the unconscious form of Graf. Clay was standing once more, furious at having been tricked but unable to say anything about it, since he was once more on this side of the cell door and they were on the other.

"It's effective."

"Yes, Sir."

"I'll be right back. You guard him."

Ian nodded.

"Shoot him if he looks at you funny."

"Yes, Sir."

Since Jack was still holding the dart gun, and the only weapon in the cadet's hand was one that Clay recognized as his own Glock, the Major knew that there was no way he was going to look at the cadet funny.

O'Neill vanished down the hallway towards the other cell, and less than a minute later there were two loud shots. A minute or two after that, Jack was back and this time with Jaffer walking cheerfully at his side. Obviously, he'd darted the other two Rangers as well. He turned the gun on Payne, and another shot rang out.

"God damn it!" Clay objected. "You could kill him; knocking him out like that with a gunshot wound."

Jack nodded.

"I could."

It went unsaid that Jack could have killed him by simply shooting him with the Beretta in his other hand. He gave the dart gun back to Ian and pulled out his device that he used to contact Thor.

"It's time I got some backup," Jack said, pulling Ian to the side and out of sight of the cell. "I'm going to send you back to Thor, okay? I want you to tell him to beam everyone but the Major down to cells in the SGC and then I want you to have him send you to the infirmary – he knows where that is. You tell Sam – and General Hammond if he's there – that I want those guys watched and isolated from each other. I want Teal'c and Jack here – but no one else from the SGC."

"But-"

"Tell them who's behind this. They'll understand why Teal'c's the only one who can come."

"Why?"

Jack shook his head.

"I don't have time to explain it to you right now, Ian, and I'm sorry. Do what I tell you, okay? When this is over, you and I definitely need to have a talk."

"About me telling you to fuck yourself?"

Jack smiled and shook his head.

"Go do what I told you. And make sure you tell Sam that I'm fine so she doesn't worry."

Jack pushed the button on the device that told Thor to get Ian the hell out of the area, and there was a bright flash of light, a soft growl from Jaffer, and the cadet was gone.

OOOOOOOOOOO

It was amazing what you could get used to, Ian decided as he found himself once more standing on the deck of the room that had the cool moving video of the Earth spinning lazily below them. The little... whatever it was... was walking towards him, and Ian put both guns in his waistband, glad the sweats weren't loose so the guns didn't pull them down.

"What is happening?" Thor asked Ian, who found himself staring at the thing, amazed that it was so real looking. It couldn't _be_ real, could it? He just barely stopped himself from reaching out and touching the thing, to see what it felt like. It certainly _looked_ like an alien from one of those Roswell shows.

"Um... Colonel O'Neill wants you to um... beam the four guys that are knocked out down to cells in the SGC - probably when they're ready for them. Then I'm supposed to have you beam me to the infirmary where I'm supposed to report to Major O'Neill and a General named Hammond. Then he's going to want you to beam some people back over to him to give him some backup."

"Who?" Thor asked. He had to know which people to pluck from the SGC when the call was given.

"Um... Teal'c, Jack and... myself."

Thor nodded and handed Ian a device similar to the one O'Neill had had.

"When you and the others are ready, press the blue button and I will bring you back here. When you are ready for the men to be transferred to the holding cells, press the red button and I will transfer them."

Ian nodded, and the alien-looking thing walked over to the chair and touched the arm. A moment later he felt himself dissolving in a bright light, and then reappeared in yet another strange room.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

The first person he saw was Janet Fraiser. The flash of light had warned everyone in the room what was happening, and the doctor just happened to be looking in that direction. Ian had only met her twice – and once had been when he'd been reeling from an attack by Ashrak and not at his best – but that was one of the advantages of having a memory like his; he never forgot a name or a face. Or anything else, for that matter.

"Ian!"

She hurried over to him, looking concerned, and he wasn't sure what to say, exactly. Obviously she wasn't all that shocked at seeing him appear out of nowhere, which told him that it wasn't the first time this kind of thing happened around here – wherever _here_ was.

"Doctor Fraiser. Is Major O'Neill around? Or a General Hammond? I'm supposed to report to them."

"Is Colonel O'Neill all right?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Did he find out who is responsible for-"

"Yes, Ma'am."

However, she wasn't on the list of people that O'Neill had said to tell. Ian saw a pair of bright orange pajama bottoms with glow in the dark moons and stars hanging over the edge of one of the beds in the long, double row of beds.

"Is River here?"

Janet nodded.

"He had an allergic reaction to the tranquilizer that was used on you guys. How do you feel?"

Ian found himself the subject of a suddenly very intent look as Janet checked his pupils for any reaction to the drug.

"I'm fine," Ian told her, giving her his hand when she took his wrist to check his pulse. "Are they all right?"

"They're both fine. I have them under observation. Which is where you're going, too."

"I can't. I have to go find Major O'Neill. Colonel O'Neill wants me to report to her and that General Hammond I was telling you about. He wants-"

"I'm here," a voice said from behind Ian. The cadet turned and saw a portly bald man a couple inches shorter than himself standing next to Samantha O'Neill – who was looking at Ian as if she really wanted to ask how Colonel O'Neil was, but didn't want to ask just then and be in the way.

"General Hammond," Sam said, stepping forward with a smile for Ian. "This is Cadet Ian Brooks. One of Shawn's roommates."

Hammond gave Ian a thorough look – making the young man well aware of the fact that he was standing there in sweats and a baggy jacket only – and then nodded.

"Brooks?"

Ian nodded, pulling his shoulders back in a somewhat defensive stance.

"Yes, Sir."

"You have a report for me, son?"

"Yes, Sir." Ian looked over at Fraiser, apologetically. "Colonel O'Neill said to just tell you and Major Carter, Sir..."

"Doctor Fraiser has clearance," Hammond said, just a little stiffly.

"Yes, Sir."

Hammond looked around the room, and decided that whatever it was that Jack hadn't wanted everyone to hear, he obviously didn't want the _entire_ staff of the infirmary to hear it.

"Let's take a walk. You can tell us in the debriefing room."

Janet spoke up. She didn't really want to leave her patients just then – besides the two young men (and Ian if he was counted) she still had a very badly injured soldier to keep an eye on.

"I need to stay here, General. Unless you need me...?"

"I'll keep you informed, Doctor. Thank you." Hammond gestured for Sam to lead the way, and then they headed for the door.


	21. 21

_Author's note: Nah, while Ian_ does _know that Sam's maiden name is Carter, it was a typo on my part – Jack would be scowling at me for calling her Major_ Carter_, but since it's because of me that he gets to sleep with her, I'll bet he lets it slide this time._

OOOOOOOOOOO

"Vice President _Kinsey_?"

"He's not the Vice President, yet," Ian said, echoing Colonel O'Neill's comment without thinking about it. That earned him a sharp glance from Hammond, but the General didn't say anything. The young man had had a rough day, and he could be forgiven an impertinence here and there, he supposed.

They were sitting in the briefing room, Hammond and Sam on one side of the large table, Ian on the other. The cadet had given a very detailed account of what had happened that night – skipping the part where he shot Graf with the dart gun – and telling them what Jack had found out from the men in the cells.

"He's going to have Thor transfer the men in the cells directly to rooms here," Ian said. "They're all knocked out – except the Major in charge of them – but I don't think Colonel O'Neill is through with that guy. He had him call Kinsey, and now he told me to tell you that he needs Teal'c and Jack to help him with whatever he's doing next."

"What's he doing next?" Sam asked.

Since he wasn't sure, Ian shrugged.

"If I had to guess, I'd say he was laying a trap for Kinsey – but I'm not sure."

"You're probably right."

"Major, go get Teal'c for me, please," Hammond requested. Sam nodded and stood up.

"I'll be right back, Sir."

She left and Hammond turned his attention to Ian, who was looking around with interest.

"What did Colonel O'Neill tell you about Thor and the SGC?"

Ian shook his head.

"He said he'd explain it later, Sir."

Hammond nodded.

"Well, for now, I'll tell you this much; this is a top secret facility and as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States of America, I expect you to _keep_ it a secret. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir."

Like anyone would believe him anyways.

"Shawn Adams and River Hayden are both under observation by Doctor Fraiser – just as a precaution, I'm told."

"Yes, Sir, Doctor Fraiser told me."

"How do _you_ feel?"

"I'm fine."

"No adverse reaction to the drug they used on you?"

Ian shook his head.

"I'd prefer that you stay in the infirmary, anyways," Hammond told him. "You can get some rest, or at least see your-"

He was interrupted by the arrival of Teal'c, Sam and Jack. Ian had met Teal'c before – the large man and his yellow lab had been part of the rescue group that had come when the invisible assassins had went after him and his roommates only a few months before. If anything, Teal'c looked larger now than he had then, muscles bulging and a stern look in his eyes, even though he gave Ian a slight bow by way of greeting.

"I told him a little of what's going on, Sir," Sam said as she sat down again. Teal'c came over and sat down next to Ian, and Jack came over and stuck his cold nose in the cadet's hand, looking for a little attention, which Ian was more than willing to give.

"What is the plan?" Teal'c asked.

"Colonel O'Neill has requested that you and Jack be transported over to the house where the cadets were taken – he'll have to tell you from there," Hammond said, obviously annoyed that he wasn't in on the plan. That wasn't Ian's fault, though. O'Neill hadn't told the cadet what he was going to do, either.

"He wants the men in the cells brought here first," Ian said, speaking up. "At least, he made it _sound_ like he wanted that done, first."

Hammond looked over at Sam.

"Get four interrogation rooms ready, Major. We'll-"

"One of the men has been shot, Sir," Ian interrupted. "He's not going to die, but he's bleeding."

"_Shot_?" Sam asked. She hadn't realized there had been a gun battle or anything. Ian could read the worry in her eyes.

"Colonel O'Neill knee-capped him to get the other one to talk."

Hammond frowned, and turned to Teal'c.

"When you see Colonel O'Neill, remind him that there's such a thing as due process in this country, and I'd prefer that he not do anything so drastic in the future."

"I will, General Hammond."

"Major O'Neill, go prepare three interrogation rooms, and inform Doctor Fraiser that we'll have an injured man coming to her soon. Take Cadet Brooks with you, and let me know when you're contacting Thor to have the men brought over and Teal'c sent there."

"Yes, Sir."

Sam stood up, gesturing for Ian to do so as well.

"I'll see you again, Cadet," Hammond said.

"Yes, Sir."

Wondering what he meant by that, Ian followed Major O'Neill out of the room and down a flight of stairs to one of the concrete lined corridors.

"Colonel O'Neill told me to tell you he's fine, Major." Ian said as soon as they were alone so he could pass on the message. "He also said not to worry."

Sam smiled.

"I'll worry, anyways, but thank you for passing the message on."

"You're welcome."

"What's he planning? Any clue?"

Ian shook his head. "He looks pretty pissed off, though. I'm glad I'm not Kinsey right now."

Sam shook her head, amazed at the gall of the man. She knew Kinsey didn't like Jack, but to orchestrate something so bold – and utterly _foolish_ – as to kidnap Shawn because of his relationship to Jack... it was insane.

The two of them went up a couple of levels and ended up in front of a corridor of small rooms with barred windows on the doors and not much else in them.

"We'll put the prisoners here, for now."

She went to a panel in the closest wall of the corridor and pressed a button.

"General Hammond? We're ready to bring the men over."

Hammond's voice came over the speaker.

"There's a security team on its way to you, Major. Contact Thor whenever you're ready."

"Yes, Sir."

As she turned back to Ian, a small group of tough looking Marines came trotting up; each of them armed and prepared to guard their prisoners. Not like it'd be all that hard, since they were all asleep, but Ian was sure it was better safe than sorry.

Sam turned to him.

"Ready."

Ian nodded and pressed the red button – which told Thor to transfer the men. A moment later there were a series of flashes of white light from inside the rooms.

Teal'c came around the corner, dressed in Kevlar and holding a P-90 in his hand. Jack was walking beside him, looking cheerful and composed like he always did.

"Ready for the other transfer?" Ian asked.

Sam shrugged.

"Looks like it."

Ian pressed the blue button, and there was a low growl from the yellow lab, and a moment later there was a flash of light and Teal'c and Jack were gone. Barely a second after that, there was another flash of light and Ian was gone as well.

Sam stared at the empty space in the hall, and realized that Thor had probably accidentally taken the cadet as well.

"Shit."

Hammond wasn't going to be happy.


	22. 22

_Author's Note: Just in answer to a review (since I try to answer comments as often as possible) I_ don't _have a beta – if I were to get a beta, I'd have to wait for them to review my writing and I don't want people to have to wait any longer than necessary for the next chapter. I have the grammar check on – and the spell check – and both_ miss _things (you'll all note that_ from and form _are frequently used wrong) sorry if the mistakes are annoying, the other option is for me to stop writing quickly and go for accuracy from now on and update once a week._

If you have a pet peeve, _feel free to email me_, and not leave an anonymous review so there's no way I can get back to you about it. I _always_ reply to emails and criticism – ask anyone who has written to me! I don't mind being corrected, but I'm not perfect and never claimed to be, and probably won't start trying to be so late in life. That said, I'm getting back to the story now. I'm sorry if I sound as if I'm venting (to use a little volcano pun) but I work my little fingers off writing these stories and don't get me wrong, I love to do it or I wouldn't, but being nitpicked isn't fun when the only place I have to respond is in my story (which ruins the flow, however juvenile my writing may seem) That said, to those of you who review: _thank you_! To those of you who send me emails: _Thank you_! I do appreciate you guys (and gals) and again, I am sorry to vent here.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"He _what_?"

Sam sighed, but only inwardly. She knew that Hammond wasn't yelling at her, and further, she'd _known_ he was going to yell so she'd pretty much been expecting it.

"He disappeared with Teal'c and Jack," she repeated. "I can only assume he's with them."

"How did _that_ happen?"

She shrugged, helplessly.

"Thor must have thought he was supposed to go – or maybe since he was holding the device that told him to make the transfer, he was taken, too. I don't know, Sir."

"And people wonder why I sleep so poorly..." Hammond muttered, turning back towards the door that led to the Command Center of the SGC. "Is there any way we can contact Thor and have him send Cadet Brooks back to us?"

"We can try, Sir. He hasn't been replying to our calls – we assume he's monitoring things, though. I'm sure Jack will send Ian back the minute he realizes what's happened."

"True." Hammond nodded. There was no way O'Neill would let him stay.

OOOOOOOOO

Jaffer's low growl was the warning Jack had been waiting for. There wasn't a flash of light anywhere in the vicinity, but he was sure that Teal'c had just been beamed into the safe-house, and it was only a matter of time before the Jaffa found him and Clay down in the basement. A second low growl, and Jaffer flattened his ears, thoroughly annoyed at the vibrations and high-pitched noises that had been going off around him all night.

Jack looked down at him, wondering about the second growl – maybe Jack had been beamed in separately?

"O'Neill!"

He heard Clay make a noise as his name rang through the basement form the open door at the top of the staircase, and he scowled. Damn. He'd been hoping the Major wouldn't find out who he was, but it hadn't occurred to him to tell Ian to tell Teal'c not to use his name.

"Down here, Teal'c."

There was movement on the stairs, and Jack came trotting into view, coming over to greet Jaffer cheerfully, and then stick his nose in Jack's hand for some attention. O'Neill rubbed the dog's face for a moment, not taking his eyes off Clay, but when he saw extra movement out of the corner of his eye, he turned to see what was going on.

Teal'c was there – it was hard to miss him, after all – but standing next to him was the one that had caught Jack's attention. Ian Brooks, still barefoot and wearing an expression Jack couldn't quite figure out – and didn't care to.

"What are _you_ doing back here?"

"Thor sent me."

That was true enough.

"What?" It was amazing to see how quickly O'Neill could go from shocked to angry. "That _little gray_-"

"I told him you said to." Ian interrupted. No sense in getting the little gray whatever it was into trouble as well – especially since he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Why would you tell him that?"

"Because I wanted to come back."

"Well, you're not _staying_. I'm not going to-"

"I can help," Ian protested. "There must be something you can use my help with."

"I don't _need_ your help!" Jack shouted. "This is between me and Kinsey, and it has nothing to do with you. You're-"

"It has _everything_ to do with me," Ian interrupted, his own temper flaring, now, too. He took a step forward, pointing at Major Clay, who was watching the scene with a slightly pole-axed expression on his face. "He didn't sneak into your fucking bedroom with guns and start roughing _you_ up, Colonel! He didn't knock you out and lock you up and start off a chain of events that has gone from strange to downright _fucked_ _up_. And because of _him_," Ian looked down at his watch for the briefest moment before looking back at O'Neill, "In about half an hour, they're going to find me and my roommates out of bed – and off the campus – and call my father – who's going to be _incredibly_ pissed off at me!"

Jack frowned. He'd forgotten about the people at the Academy. Ian took another breath.

"This has everything to do with me – even if it wasn't _supposed_ to. I'm here, and I want to help." He looked at Clay, and his temper – which he'd been getting under control after the initial outburst – suddenly flared once more. Ian pulled the Glock out of his waistband, pointing it at the Major. "Did you know that Hayden is _allergic_ to whatever the fuck you shot him with? He probably would have died, you sorry piece of shit, and it would have been all your fault!"

"_Ian_!"

The cadet glared at Major Clay for another long moment, obviously trying to suppress his fury, and turned to Jack, the gun still pointed towards the cell.

"You can stay."

"What?"

Jack shrugged.

"You can stay. You're right; this has everything to do with you and you have a right to be here."

"I can?" Ian asked, shock clearing out the last of his anger. "I do?"

Jack nodded.

"You don't go anywhere near Kinsey, though – and you don't even let him _see_ you, do you understand? Kinsey is mine."

"What do I do, then?"

"You can guard Major Clay here," Jack said. "I don't want to leave him alone, and it's pretty obvious that you're not his best friend at the moment. Do you still have that tranq gun?"

Ian nodded, moving his jacket aside to show the butt of the pistol to O'Neill.

"Don't use it. I need him awake. If he gives you any trouble, shoot him with the Glock – just try to aim for something that won't kill him. I need him alive, too. Bleeding I can live with, though..."

"Yes, Sir..." It was obvious that Ian still was surprised that Jack was letting him stay, and he wasn't the only one.

"O'Neill..."

"Watch him for a minute, Ian. I need to talk to Teal'c alone."

The Jaffa and the Colonel walked to the other end of the corridor.

"Do you think it is prudent to allow him to remain?" The Jaffa asked.

Jack nodded.

"He's not going to get in the way, Teal'c, and he's just crazy enough and angry enough that he'll be able to keep Major Clay there from trying anything stupid – which means that I don't need to use you or the dogs to watch the Major, and I can use you to help me with Kinsey."

It couldn't have worked out better if Jack had planned it.


	23. 23

The breakfast that he was forced to attend was a strictly political affair. Now that the election was over and the vote had gone his way, Kinsey didn't have to go to every gathering that he was invited to – he didn't have to kiss up to people now, and had no intention of doing it – but he was greasy politician enough to know that he still had to go to the ones that the more powerful people in the private sector invited him to. This was one of those occasions. More of a chance for some heavy financial backers to showcase their winning racehorse than actual get together, but it was one he couldn't get out of attending.

He showed up with an escort of Secret Service and a small contingent of Military Brass and was met by another contingent – including Colonel Nick Stanton, the man who'd been too afraid of O'Neill to try and help Kinsey get even with him. Kinsey's smile was positively predatory when Stanton came over about midway through the event. He showed him, didn't he? He had O'Neill's boy, and there was no way that the bastard was going to get him back without a lot of squirming. It was really too bad that Kinsey had to stay behind the scenes, because he would have loved to have Jack O'Neill on his knees in front of him, begging for his son's life.

That thought was so pleasant that his smile actually broadened as Stanton drew up beside him. He was so caught up in the imagery that he didn't even notice the troubled look on Stanton's face.

"Bob, I need to talk to you."

Kinsey was in such a good mood, he didn't even mind being called Bob.

"I'm right here." He waved expansively.

"No... alone."

Noticing, now, that he wasn't pleased about something – and assuming he was going to apologize for being such a piss-ant baby about the whole O'Neill affair – Kinsey nodded, and allowed himself to be guided to a private corner of the room. He waved away the Secret Service man that was going to be responsible for shadowing him for the next four years – _sixteen_ _years_, if Kinsey had anything to say about it – and waited until they were alone. As alone as you could get in a crowded room.

"What is it, Nick?"

"You've got a problem."

Kinsey shook his head.

"No, not at all. Everything is perfect."

"Bob... I heard that a few cadets from the Air Force academy came up missing from their beds last night."

Kinsey pretended to look shocked and dismayed.

"_Really_?"

"It's not _funny_, you stupid bastard." Stanton hissed. "You don't know what you've done."

"Who says I did anything?" Kinsey asked. "I was in my hotel room, surrounded by alibis all night – and then I was sleeping. I didn't leave – the security cameras can verify that."

Stanton shook his head.

"Do you know who Nathan Brooks is?"

"No, should I?"

"Let me ask it another way. Do you know who _Major General_ Nathan Brooks is?"

Kinsey shook his head, irritated.

"No. Obviously he's some sort of chair warmer for the Military. I don't make acquaintances with that type – present company excluded, of course. Why the hell would I care who he is?"

"He's not a chair warmer, Bob. He's a retired General from the Air Force – a retired Special Operations man who has a ton of clout and as vicious a temper as I've ever heard of – except maybe Colonel O'Neill's."

"So?"

"His son is in the Air Force academy."

"And...?"

"Is one of Shawn Adams' roommates..."

"_What_?"

Kinsey said this so loud that several people in the area turned and looked at him. He gave them an uneasy, greasy smile, and waited for them to turn away.

"What are you saying?" He hissed.

"The Commandant of the Air Force academy is a long-time friend of General Brooks'. As soon as he realized his son was one of the missing cadets, he contacted the father – who in turn has already started making inquiries. Which is how I found out about it."

"What?"

Kinsey's gleeful face was now pale and afraid. But only for a moment. Then his arrogant posture was back.

"What do I care about some has-been special forces General? I'm the Vice President of the United States, for Christ's sake. He can't touch me." No more than Jack O'Neill could.

"Whatever you have planned, Bob, you need to stop it, immediately. Brooks is dangerous – and add him to Colonel O'Neill, and you'll be lucky if you come out of this with your life, much less your empty title."

Kinsey was thinking fast, despite his bravado. Yeah, he had O'Neill's son – and apparently some other guy's son – some guy who was going to maybe, _just maybe_, be able to cause him problems. What should he do? _Fucking Clay_! This was all his fault! If he'd only brought in Adams like he was supposed to...

Stanton shrugged, knowing that Kinsey wasn't going to be swayed by anything else he said. He'd delivered his warning; that was all he could do.

"Good luck, Bob." He murmured, almost meaning it. Then he walked away. When the shit hit this fan it was going to splatter in a million miles to all directions, and never in his life had Nicholas Stanton been so relieved that he wasn't involved.

OOOOOOOOO

"You know, kid, you're _not_ involved in this..."

Ian was alone in the basement with his charge while Jack and Teal'c and the dogs were upstairs looking through the safe-house, making sure they knew how many entrances there were, and what sort of security there was. The cadet glowered at the Major, his dark eyes burning with hate. Especially at being called a kid. God he hated it when people did that. He was _nineteen_ for shit's sake! He wasn't a kid anymore.

"You could just put the gun down and leave..." Major Clay said. "Save yourself the chance of getting hurt when Kinsey brings his backup in and the guns start blazing."

"Kinsey's a piece of shit," Ian said, defiantly. "The only guns that follow him are carried by other pieces of shit. Like you and your _top commando unit_." This last was said so sarcastically that Clay frowned; his pride unable to take that kind of stinging phrase – even coming from some snot nosed kid who wouldn't know a real special forces operative if he snuck up and stuck a knife in his back.

"What do you know about it, kid?" He asked, sneering. "They teaching you all about top commando units in that Academy? Teaching how to sneak around in the brush and kill the enemy-"

"They teach us about honor, you sack of shit. Now shut the fuck up before I see if I can shoot you without killing you."

Ian wasn't close to the cell – Colonel O'Neill had warned him not to get within arm's reach, and Ian had understood the reasoning behind it. As much as he wanted to unlock the door and beat the shit out of the Major, there was no way he was going to.

"You fucking little bastard..." Clay's temper snapped. It was amazing how the little punk had the ability to piss him off so easily. "Put that gun down and I'll show you-"

"Shut up, Major." Ian cocked the Glock, his eyes telling Clay that he was more than capable of seeing if a shoulder wound or a bullet in the thigh or someplace like that would kill someone. "They haven't taught us marksmanship, yet. I'd hate to kill you and piss off Colonel O'Neill."


	24. 24

_Author's note: Thanks for the positive words and emails you guys, I really appreciate what you've all had to say! As for the volcano update; there's lava there right under the surface of the big lump in the crater of Mount St Helens. It's not on the surface itself, but it's heating up the rock above it – it looks really cool, all red and steaming and venting... I might run up there tomorrow night, I hear you get a good view at night. It still hasn't blown, but they're still saying it's going to – although they're saying it'll go upwards this time, instead of sideways which is what happened in 1980. I'll keep you updated as things change_

OOOOOOOOOOOO

The safe house was a very comfortable four-bedroom two-bathroom building on the main floor. Looking through it with Teal'c and the labs, Jack thought that someone would have never guessed the basement held such sinister cells and secrets. There were assorted weapons lying around – the weapons that Thor had taken from the Rangers when he'd beamed them into the cells – and Jack and Teal'c gathered these up and locked them in a closet where they'd be out of the way in the event they had to bring Major Clay back upstairs.

There were three entrances into the house, which was built on a small heavily wooded hill in the middle of a very swanky neighborhood. Both the front door and the back door were locked, and the door that led to the garage – which held a late model dark blue van – was locked only moments after Teal'c discovered it. Now there would be no surprises. Jack had already had enough surprises for the day.

"Kinsey told Clay that he'd be here sometime after his breakfast thing," Jack told Teal'c as the two stood in the living room, O'Neill looking through the shades that covered a large picture window at the driveway that led up to the house. "When he gets here, I-"

The phone rang, interrupting him.

"Damn."

Because they'd just explored the house thoroughly, Jack knew where all the phones were. By the time the second ring pealed through the main floor of the safe house, he had picked up the two cordless handsets and he and Teal'c were on their way to the basement.

Ian looked over at their arrival, but Jack didn't have time to ask him how he was holding up – he looked calm enough, maybe the Major was behaving himself.

"Answer that," Jack told Clay, handing a phone through the cell. "If it's anyone but Kinsey, tell them you'll call them back later. If it's Kinsey, you'd better make sure you think twice about what you say."

The meaning of that was as clear as the gun in Ian's hand. As soon as Jack gave over the first phone, Sam's Beretta appeared in his hand and was pointed at the Major while O'Neill waited for Clay to activate the phone he was holding.

Major Clay desperately wanted to tell them all to go fuck themselves, but his courage was fading quickly. Thanks to the big black guy and the kid, he now knew that this man in front of him was Jack O'Neill – Colonel Jack O'Neill. Clay didn't know O'Neill personally, obviously, but he'd heard a lot about him. The man was supposedly a top-notch special forces operator from way back when, who was now involved in some kind of hush-hush project, and was definitely not someone Clay would have chosen to take on. While the Major didn't understand what O'Neill had to do with Shawn Adams or the other cadets, he had a feeling from the way he was acting that this was personal. And there was no denying that O'Neill couldn't stand Kinsey for some reason.

He wanted to tell him to fuck himself, but there was no way he'd do it.

He turned on the phone, watching as O'Neill turned his on at the same moment, and put it to his ear.

"Major Clay."

"What took you so long to answer?"

The voice was Kinsey's. It sounded slightly off-kilter to Clay, as if he had heard some bad news or something. Clay looked over at O'Neill, whose expression clearly told him to make something up.

"I was taking a leak."

There was a pause.

"You said you abducted more than one cadet last night, right?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Was one of them named Ian Brooks?"

Clay looked over at O'Neill, who looked over at Ian. Since he didn't know what was being said, Ian wasn't sure why O'Neill suddenly looked at him so intently, but the Colonel's eyes went to Clay a second later, and he nodded slightly.

"Um... yes, Sir. I think so. I haven't actually interrogated them."

"You have him there?"

Oh, yeah. He's right here pointing my fucking gun at me, Clay thought. How he wanted to tell Kinsey that! He didn't, though. Instead he nodded – although the Vice President-elect couldn't see the motion.

"Yes, Sir."

"What is the condition of the cadets?"

"The same as before, Sir..."

"You hold onto them, Major." Kinsey's voice was suddenly hard. "If they get loose, it's going to be your head that rolls. I'll be there in a couple of hours."

"Sir-"

He almost blurted it out – almost warned Kinsey that there was going to be a trap waiting for him. Then he saw the gun in Jack O'Neill's hand lower. One minute it was pointing at his head, the next it was nudging his groin. Clay felt all the blood leave his face, and was certain he could feel his testicles try to climb back into his body.

"What?" Kinsey's voice sounded impatient.

Clay swallowed, finding there was no moisture in his mouth to complete the action.

"We'll be here, Sir..."

The line went dead as Kinsey hung up, and Jack hung up his extension as well, handing the phone to Teal'c.

"Smart move, Major." O'Neill told him.

Clay didn't answer. He wasn't sure he could have and he didn't want to show O'Neill any more fear than he already had.

Jack turned to Ian.

"Do you know Senator Kinsey?"

Surprised by the question – when would he have ever met a Senator?- Ian shook his head.

"No. I didn't even vote for him."

"You've never met him?"

"No. Why?"

"He asked about you by name."

Ian shrugged.

"I can't imagine why, Colonel. Maybe he wanted to know who else they had?"

"Maybe..." Except that he hadn't asked about River Hayden, Jack noticed.

"Is Kinsey going to come here, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.

Jack nodded, "He told Clay he'd be here in a couple of hours." That was good. Jack was definitely ready to have a long conversation with Senator Robert Kinsey.


	25. 25

_Author's Note: lol, it's coming! It's coming! I have slowed down on my posting just a little... but only because I've been spending far too much time up at Mount St. Helens gawking like a tourist. It'll be worth the wait, I promise!_

OOOOOOOOOOO

"It looks pretty quiet up there..."

Nathan Brooks turned to the man standing next to him.

"_Too_ quiet, Ian?"

"Don't say that, Nate," Colonel Ian Piper said, slapping his friend on the shoulder, reassuringly. "I'm sure he's fine."

A dark look crossed Brooks' chiseled features and the blue eyes that had a moment before held concern now almost seemed to darken with hatred.

"If he's not, someone's going to pay dearly."

The two men were standing at the base of a small hill, looking up at a house that was built on a semi-private acreage of heavily wooded growth. Major General Nathan Brooks USAF (ret) was a large stocky man with piercing blue eyes that stood in sharp contrast to his deeply tanned face. His blonde hair was cut in a crew cut that was so short he practically looked bald, and had he not been scowling so fiercely, he would have been a fairly handsome man.

The man standing next to him was Nathan's best friend for as long as they could remember. The two of them had met at the Air Force Academy and had served their country together ever since – mostly in special ops, but later in a far more aggressive field in Washington DC, once Brooks had been given his second star and had been reassigned from the battle field to a desk. He'd taken Colonel Ian Piper with him, refusing to be without the man who was the closest thing to a brother he'd ever had, and Colonel Piper had been the first one Nathan had called once he'd heard about his son's disappearance from his bed at the Academy.

In the middle of the fucking night! Who kidnapped cadets from their beds? And how had they managed it? Nathan Brooks knew his son well, and he'd known that there was no way anyone would have been able to force Ian to go with them without some way of subduing him. Nathan just prayed that whatever way it had been, it hadn't been lethal. As he'd turned to Ian Piper to find out the answers, telling his friend to call in every favor anyone owned Nathan, Brooks had tried to figure out what could be behind the abduction.

Obviously it could be personally motivated. Nathan had made a ton of enemies in his time in the military – and if he considered it honestly – out. He'd gone into fire inspections for the city of New York once he'd left the service – more to keep busy than out of a real need for a job – and he'd been tough on all violators. Had probably made more than his share of enemies in his quest to defend the public from fire hazards and cheap landlords and club owners who weren't willing to put out the extra money to protect those they were supposed to be looking out for.

Before he'd even managed to make a mental list of all the possible suspects who might be able to carry this bold as bras move out – and the list wasn't very long – Ian Piper had called Nathan with the news he'd wanted to hear. One of the Army's Special Forces units – Rangers – had been recalled from an assignment only a day or so before, and their destination orders had them on a flight to Colorado Springs. The men had been assigned to barracks at Schriever but had never checked into them. After some digging – and Ian Piper was very good at digging – he'd found out why. They'd been rerouted for a 'special duty' by some unnamed senior official. And while Piper hadn't been able to find out who the unnamed official was, he'd managed to find out the locations of several 'safe houses' in the area – houses that were used to hold all sorts of interesting people. Perhaps even political prisoners?

He and Brooks had been in the air in only a matter of hours – only three had passed since the Commandant had originally called Nathan – and pulling his rank and a ton of strings, Brooks had commandeered a two-seat fighter to take him and his second in command to Colorado, where Nathan was damned sure going to get his son back – and was going to make sure that whoever took him learned the hard way you don't fuck with him.

While they'd been in the air, the safe houses had all been checked. All but one was standing empty, and the one that wasn't showed signs of life – although no definite sign of Ian Brooks or the other two missing cadets. This was almost definitely where the Rangers had vanished to, and if they were the ones that had taken Ian, then there was a fair chance that the young man was in there somewhere.

A young Major came trotting up, saluting smartly and waiting for Brooks to return it.

"Sir, we just intercepted a call that you need to hear..." The Major held out a hand-held tape recorder, and Nathan Brooks took it and pressed play. The silence in the air was deafening as the three men listened to two unknown voices discussing Ian Brooks.

"That voice sounds familiar," Piper said, once Brooks had pushed the stop button to rewind it.

"It _is_ familiar," Brooks said, darkly. "It's the voice of a dead man."

He turned to the Major. "I want all your men ready to go on my signal, Major. Non-lethal means of control – my son's in there and I don't want him hurt – but I _want_ those bastards."

"Yes, Sir."

The Major ran off to make his plans – plans that Brooks would make final approval of – and Nathan turned to Piper.

"If you see Ian before I do, you keep him safe..."

"You know I will."

Brooks nodded; he did know.

OOOOOOOOOO

They brought Clay upstairs and Jack tied him firmly to a chair in the middle of the small room that looked like it might have been a den of sorts. The reasons were obvious; if Kinsey called again, Jack wanted the Major where he could get the phone to him in a hurry – Kinsey had been almost suspicious before, and it wouldn't do to scare the Senator off with something so easily fixed. The other reason was that Jack was honestly worried that Ian was going to shoot Clay, and he really didn't trust the Cadet's aim. Jack needed the Major alive. So he relieved Ian of his guarding duties for a while – putting Jaffer in charge of the Major instead – and told the cadet to find some clothes and get dressed.

Ian hadn't wanted to give up his guard duty – he was worried that O'Neill might send him back to the SGC (whatever and wherever that was) if he wasn't needed, and he'd protested, but only for a moment. Jaffer was far more intimidating when it came to guarding than Ian was, and he had to admit he sort of enjoyed the way the black lab made a low growl every time Clay made any move at all. The Major was obviously more afraid of being bitten than he had been of being shot by Ian, because he certainly didn't press his luck with the dog. After a few soft growls, Clay had become a virtual statue.

Ian had gone into the bathroom carrying one of the duffle bags the Rangers had brought with them, and had emerged half an hour later freshly showered and dressed in a slightly baggy uniform with the guns tucked neatly into the waistband of the pants – which were belted tight. He went over to where Jack and Teal'c were standing in the living room, wondering if the Colonel had something he wanted him to do.

"Well, you look better," O'Neill had said when he approached. "Although you need to put on a few more pounds to really-"

A tinkling of broken glass drew their attention and they all looked at the picture window that held such a magnificent view of the area when the shades were up. Something had just come through the window, blasted through it so hard that it also shredded the screen. A canister landed in the middle of the room, followed by several more.

_"Get down!"_

Jack dove for the other side of the couch, tackling Ian on his way past and dragging the cadet to safety just in time. A large concussion rocked the room, followed by another, and then another. It was deafening. Windows were breaking everywhere, but Jack realized it wasn't from the explosions. There were people coming through those windows. He lurched to his feet, Sam's Beretta in one hand and a stolen Glock – similar to the one Ian had tucked into his pants – in the other, facing the direction of the first crash. This was where the leader was going to come from, Jack knew from experience.

"_Freeze_!"

The room was filling with men in BDUs coming through every entrance. They'd entered through other windows besides the ones in the living room but hadn't found any resistance and as per orders, they'd all converged on the living room, only to find themselves in a stalemate.

One man in jeans and a tee-shirt – obviously Military – had two handguns trained on them. Another man – a mountain of a man in black BDUs – had a P-90 on them (and they all knew that little machine gun could wreak havoc)

"Freeze!" The Major repeated, as a large figure came crashing through the remains of the picture window with his own guns drawn. The twin Berettas in his hands were immediately pointed at Jack, who responded by pointing his own guns at this man. Then he realized he knew who the guy was – even though it'd been a while since he'd last seen him.

"Nate?"

Brooks was just as floored.

"Jack?"

"Dad!"

Jack looked over at Ian, shocked.

"_Dad_?"


	26. 26

A low growl echoed through the room just then, and was joined by another. Jaffer and Jack had both come to investigate the noise and neither lab had been pleased to see anyone pointing weapons at their humans. Jaffer was closest, his brown eyes watching Nathan Brooks carefully, every muscle in his body tense as the black lab waited for the right moment to spring. And Jack knew he wasn't going to aim for the hands holding the Berettas.

"Jaffer, down."

"Jack, down."

Teal'c's voice was deep, drawing Nathan's attention to him for the first time since he'd entered the room. It was obvious in the single glance he had time to give him that Brooks was impressed with the Jaffa's size. Even better, though, the yellow lab that had been watching Ian Piper so intently was now more relaxed and didn't look quite so ready to spring at him. Jaffer on the other hand was still growling a warning to the General.

"What are you doing here, Jack?" Nathan asked, scowling. He looked over O'Neill's shoulder and saw Ian standing there, looking a little battered, but healthy nonetheless, and breathed a silent sigh of relief. "Did you have something to do with the kidna-"

"No." Jack lowered his weapons, sticking them back into his jeans. He leaned down and slapped Jaffer's side lightly, reassuring the lab with a playful movement that all was well with the world and he wasn't in any danger. Jaffer wagged his tail, slightly, in response, but still watched Brooks suspiciously. "I'm here to set a trap for the one who did it. And now it's probably not going to happen..."

"What? Who did it? Who-"

"Ian's your son?"

Jack looked over at the cadet, who shrugged.

"Yes."

"I didn't even know you had a son...you never mentioned one..."

"Big shock there," Ian muttered, darkly.

"What's going on, Jack?" Nathan repeated, lowering his guns and putting them back in his holsters. He waved to the others to tell them to lower their weapons as well – if Ian wasn't in any distress then it was obvious it wasn't Jack who had kidnapped him.

"Oh, you're _never_ going to believe it."

Nathan walked over to stand in front of Ian, reached out and took his son's chin in his hand, looking at the deep bruise that had formed on his face where Moore had managed to land a lucky punch.

"Are you all right?"

Ian nodded.

"Fine."

"Where are the other boys?"

"They're safe, Nate," Jack said, looking around the mangled living room. There was no way they were going to be able to trick Kinsey, now. Not with the house in shambles like it was. He'd know something was wrong the minute he came through the door. Probably would know the minute he drove up the driveway. "One of them had an allergic reaction to the dart gun they used to take them out of the Academy, and the other was hit over the head with a butt of a gun and is being checked out."

"What's going on here, Jack?" Nathan asked again, turning from his son to the Colonel and scowling. "If you don't tell me I'm going to-"

"Get your men gathered together and have them start cleaning this area up," Jack said, nodding a hello to Ian Piper, who had just come in from his explorations of the basement. "I'll catch you up to what's going on while they see if they can repair some of the damage they did..."

"What's with the guy tied up in the other room?" Colonel Piper asked, curiously.

"That's one of our kidnappers," Jack said. "The leader of the group that snuck into the academy."

"What do you have to do with any of this, Jack?" Nathan asked. "Why-"

"Nate, sit down and I'll tell you – and soon as I introduce you both to Teal'c, here. You get your men started on cleaning like I said..."

Brook gestured to the Major to have his men start trying to get the room back in order, then he sat down on the couch, watching Jack and waiting impatiently for his explanation.

OOOOOOOO

"_Senator Kinsey_?" Nathan asked, confused, only a few minutes into the explanation. "What would he want with Ian?" The General looked over at his son, who had seated himself on the arm of the couch – on the far end from Nathan, Jack noticed.

"Nothing," Jack said. "Ian wasn't his target; one of his roommates was."

"What?" Nathan scowled, but this time it was confusion and not irritation. "What-"

"My son," Jack said. "His name's Shawn and there's no doubt that he was the target – the other two boys just got in the way and had to be taken as well."

"You have a son at the academy?"

Jack nodded.

"It's not common knowledge, Nate, and I want to keep it that way."

"What would Kinsey want with him?"

"Kinsey and I have some bad blood... all I can think of is that the Senator decided to take that out of Shawn's hide instead of coming after me..." There was no mistaking the fury that was shining in Jack's eyes just then.

"That sonofabitch..."

Jack nodded his agreement.

"What are your plans?" Brooks asked.

"Well, before you showed up and destroyed the house, I was using Major Clay to get Kinsey into the house where I could deal with him at my leisure. I don't know for sure that it's going to work, now, but he's supposed to be heading over here once he's done with some function he's holding court in. I'd like to catch him here, if I can – since I'm pretty sure he's not going to bring his Secret Service guys here."

"No, he wouldn't dare – they'd be witnesses, and none of them can be all that loyal to him yet." Nathan agreed. "He'd come alone – or with some trusted body guard."

"I can handle anyone he brings," Jack said.

"We can handle them, you mean," Brooks corrected. "I'm not going to let him get away with what he's done, Jack, and I'm not going to sit idly by and watch you take care of my vengeance. That bastard kidnapped Air Force personnel, Goddamn it! And my son! He's going to pay."

O'Neill nodded; he wasn't surprised by how angry Brooks was – the man had a fiery temper, after all – and he knew exactly how he felt.

"I plan on making him pay, Nate..." He assured him. "It's just not going to be so subtle now, I guess."

Brooks leaned forward, as did Piper.

"What do you want to do, Jack? I have thirty men willing to do whatever I tell them to – and can get as many more as we need."


	27. 27

_Author's Note: Whew! That mountain looks sooo cool! All steaming and red... and there's lava! I'm off tomorrow, and not going to the mountain, so I promise even more chapters tomorrow for you guys!_

OOOOOOOO

It was nearly noon by the time Vice President-elect Robert Kinsey drove up the tree-lined driveway of the safe house. He was in a lousy mood, too. It'd taken him forever to get free of all the toadying politicians at the breakfast that had wanted to use his new position to further their own causes – and don't even mention all the corporate people who had their own agendas for the Vice President! Bunch of leeches... of course, it was easy for him to forget that only months before he'd been one of those leeches, too.

By the time he'd manage to leave the breakfast and send his Secret Service detail off on some other errands so he could get some time to himself – there was no way he'd take any of them with him to the safe house – he was frustrated at the wait, and still trying to figure out what the hell he was going to do about the extra cadets Major Clay had captured.

As near as he could tell, the officials at the Air Force Academy were keeping the disappearances hush hush – probably they thought the cadets had taken off for a rousing night of doing whatever it was that cadets did when they snuck off-campus in the middle of the night, and just hadn't made it back on time or had gotten into some kind of trouble. Maybe they had Air Force personnel looking for them in gutters or in alleys behind whorehouses, thinking that his roommates might have taken Adams out for a night on the town. Who knew? He was just glad that it wasn't out in the open, so he didn't have to worry about that retired General coming down to snoop around looking for his son.

He was so wrapped up in that thought as he drove through the gate at the base of the driveway that he didn't notice the very well camouflaged forms that were crouched in the brush by the edge of the driveway, watching. Nor did he notice one raise a radio to his lips.

Of course, that was the whole idea, right?

OOOOOOOOOOO

"He's coming... and he's alone."

Nathan Brooks and Jack O'Neill both looked over at the Major – Garcia – and nodded. There was no need to tell everyone to get into positions; they already were. All of them were professionals, after all. All except for one. Jack looked over at the lone cadet.

"Ian, time for you to get out of sight. Go to the basement and wait for someone to come get you."

"But-"

"_Goddamn_ it, son, do what you're told."

The younger Brooks glared at his father, and opened his mouth to say something – no doubt something wildly inappropriate. Jack didn't give him a chance.

"Do it, or I'll drag you down there myself."

Ian's glare transferred from his father to the Colonel, and he looked more than ready to tell them both where to go, but he must have seen something in Jack's face, because he wheeled around without a word and headed for the door that led to the basement.

"He's got your winning personality, Nate."

Brooks grinned, despite himself, and there was no doubt in Jack's mind that even though the General wasn't pleased with the way his son had acted, he was proud of him.

"You noticed..."

Jack smiled.

"Well, he hides it so... not at all."

"I was-"

They were interrupted by the sound of tires on gravel outside, and both men realized that this wasn't the time to talk.

"Places, people!" Brooks called, moving into his own position and vanishing. He was the only one moving, though. Everyone else was already where they were supposed to be.

Jack waited until he was out of sight, and then turned to see Teal'c bringing out Major Clay, who had been untied and given a uniform to dress in – no weapon, though, of course.

"You behave yourself, Major," Jack told him in a low voice. He bent down to slide his hand meaningfully along Jaffer's silky shoulder. "The minute you say the wrong thing, I'll have him rip your throat out, do you understand?"

Since the black lab looked more than willing to do just that, Major Clay nodded.

"Yes, Sir..."

"Good."

Teal'c vanished, and Jack and Jaffer walked over to a coat closet that was in the hall between the living room and kitchen and disappeared into it, but Jack left the door cracked slightly so he could see what was happening.

Clay stood in the middle of the living room alone, watching the door and well aware that there were half a dozen guns pointed at him that minute – and two big labs who were more than capable of causing almost as much damage to him.

They hadn't had time to replace the broken windows, but the men had swept all the glass up as well as they could, and had hidden the damage – from the outside, at least – so Kinsey shouldn't have too much cause to be suspicious. The front door that had been broken down had been replaced with the door leading to the garage, so unless Kinsey wanted to use the garage – and they didn't think he would – he shouldn't notice anything from that side. He wouldn't notice anything, they hoped. At least not until it was too late for him.

OOOOOOOO

"What the _hell_...?"

As he pulled up to the front of the house and stopped the car, Kinsey frowned. The idiots had been screwing around, apparently – or maybe they'd just gotten bored. They'd taken the blinds that normally covered the big picture window and had put them outside, covering the same window, but in a position that anyone who wanted to see in could just raise them up himself. What were they thinking?

"Fucking morons... it's a wonder we've managed to win _any_ wars if this is an example of Military intelligence..."

He got out of the car and walked over to the window, thinking to peek inside. Not for any particular reason – it was just part of his weasel nature to want to look through a closed window – even if it belonged to him. The landscaping prevented this, though. There were heavy bushes in the way and he didn't want to make himself scruffy by forcing his way through them. With a muffled curse, he turned and headed for the door, not noticing that there were three heavily camouflaged men who had been right under that very window, guns out and pointed at him.

Oblivious to the chaos he had almost started, Kinsey went to the door and walked right in. It was his house, after all; he sure as hell wasn't going to knock. The first person he saw was Major Clay, who was standing in the center of the living room floor, looking pale and wan. The man had probably been startled by his sudden appearance, Kinsey decided, smugly. Special Forces my ass.

"Senator Kinsey..."

"_Vice President_ Kinsey," Kinsey corrected him with a slight sneer on his face. What the hell was wrong with the man?

"Um... yes, Sir. Sorry."

"Where are my prisoners?"

"In the basement, Sir. In the holding cells."

Kinsey looked around, suddenly feeling the hairs on the back of his neck start to rise as something – some weasel instinct, no doubt – told him something wasn't right. Clay looked too nervous.

"Where are the rest of your men, Major?"

"In the basement, as well, Sir."

"Let's go see my prisoners," Kinsey said, shaking off the ill-feeling in his excitement at having Jack O'Neill's son under his thumb. "I think they're all going to be involved in a nasty – and _unfortunate_ – accident. Probably one involving a lot of bleeding and pain."

Jack had heard enough. As Kinsey headed for the hallway towards the kitchen, O'Neill stepped out of the closet, with Jaffer right beside him, blocking the Senator's path. Kinsey stopped dead at the sudden appearance of the one man he least wanted to see just then – and had definitely not expected to see.

"You!"

"Hello, Senator..." Jack said, his voice so low and dangerous that it probably frosted the rims of every glass in the cupboards.

Kinsey took a step back. And then another.

"What-?"

A movement at his right drew his attention, and despite the fact that he knew O'Neill wasn't a man to take his eyes off, Kinsey's gaze went that way, and he saw the Jaffa Teal'c suddenly coming out of the doorway that led to the den – with his yellow lab right beside him. If O'Neill was intimidating by his anger, Teal'c intimidated by sheer presence and size, and Kinsey wasn't immune to it. He gasped, and turned, intending to run for the door and outside where at least if he screamed one of the neighbors would hear him and hopefully call the police before the two could hurt him.

Clay stood still, watching as the Senator ran past him wondering why the Colonel or the big black guy didn't sic their dogs on the man. He hadn't been in on the plan, after all, and didn't know that Jack had no reason to worry about Kinsey escaping. Before the Senator had reached the front door, another closet was opened, and this time a man that Kinsey didn't know stepped out into his path. Kinsey almost ran into him, but managed to slide to a halt before he could.

The stranger had a gun in his hand and raised the weapon to Kinsey's forehead. His blue eyes were filled with a hatred that the Senator didn't understand. He didn't know the guy, what was he so-

The gun cocked, and Kinsey felt himself lose control of his bladder.


	28. 28

_Author's note: Bah. I do have to work today... sigh. But I will still put this chapter and hopefully another up _

OOOOOOOOOO

"Colonel Piper."

The Colonel came out of the den where Teal'c had come from as well, and walked over to Nathan.

"Sir?"

"You're excused, Colonel." Brooks said, his eyes still on Kinsey and his gun never faltering. "Take the men and leave the area."

"Aye, aye, Sir."

He didn't need to tell Piper to thank those involved – Piper would do it for him.

The Colonel turned and waved the men from their various hiding places thru out the house, and then left through the back door. Jack knew that he'd be gathering up the special forces teams as he went, and soon the only people left in the safe house would be him, Nathan, Teal'c and Ian. And Major Clay, of course.

"Do you know why I just dismissed the Colonel, Senator?" Brooks asked in a deadly calm voice.

Unable to find enough moisture in his dry mouth to speak, Kinsey shook his head, staring at the barrel of the Beretta.

"It's so that if there's an inquiry for some reason, and those men are called up to testify, they'll be able to swear before God and their mothers that the last time they saw you, you were alive and well," Jack said, coming up behind Kinsey.

"Not to mention, this way there won't be anyone to keep us from doing whatever we want – no matter how much you threaten t-"

"Who are you?" Kinsey asked, finding his voice for the first time. "What business is this of yours?"

"Major General Nathan Michael Brooks," Nathan said with a voice as hard a the metal his gun was made of. "One of those boys that you were talking about having an _unfortunate accident_ – involving bleeding and pain, as I recall – is my _only_ son, and I have to tell you, Senator... I'm pretty _fucking_ pissed at the moment."

The Senator paled, and he looked about ready to throw up.

"I didn't mean it," Kinsey said, desperately. "I was just joking. I wouldn't dream of harming anyone. Whatever O'Neill may have-"

"O'Neill didn't tell me shit, you worthless piece of monkey piss. He didn't have to. I can see for myself what kind of man you are."

"You're making a mistake, General," Kinsey said, his voice slightly higher than normal and his pants soaked with urine. "Grabbing your son was an accident. Major Clay-"

"No. Grabbing my son was a _mistake_," Brooks said. "And grabbing O'Neill's boy was downright stupid. I can't believe he hasn't shot you, yet."

"You can't-" Kinsey looked over at O'Neill, found absolutely no mercy in those brown eyes, and looked back at Brooks. "I'm the Vice President of the United States! You can't do this!"

"You're not the Vice President, yet," Jack told him.

"Might not ever be," Nathan added.

OOOOOOOOO

"Come on, Sam..." Shawn's brown eyes were pleading – and looked so much like Jack's that it just wasn't fair.

"Shawn, you know General Hammond said no."

"But he's not here right now, is he?" Shawn said, "We could have Thor beam us there, we could see how Jack is doing, and come back before General Hammond even knew we were gone."

Sam shook her head.

"You know I want to know what's going on as much as you do, but we're not going to disobey orders to find out." Besides, who knew what exactly was going on over there, and there was no way Sam was just going to pop into a room when Jack needed his attention completely on what he was doing.

Shawn gave an exasperated sigh – he'd been working on Sam for well over an hour now, and was finding she was a far more formidable opponent than his mother.

"Maybe we could have Thor just... call down and ask Jack how he's doing? Maybe Jack could use some help and just doesn't want to call us."

She smiled, and he felt the stirring of hope. Maybe she would agree? Maybe she was going to let him call Thor? Maybe-

"No."

Damn.

"Why don't we go check on River?"

Shawn sighed, but he nodded.

River's reaction to the drug had been severe, but Janet Fraiser was more than able to handle it, and within hours of his arrival into her care the young man was sitting up in bed and more than willing and able to eat anything she wanted to put in front of him – which was a primary indication to Janet that there were no lasting affects that would keep him in bed.

Of course, there was the fact that he was in the heart of the biggest secret in the world, and that was a reason to keep him in bed. At least until they had any idea what – if any – to tell him about what had happened. So Shawn had been allowed out of bed – once Janet had assured herself and Sam that he'd taken no serious harm from the blow to his head – and River was stuck in bed, held there by Janet, who was more than capable of handling Jack O'Neill at his worst, and had absolutely no trouble with the friendly and easygoing cadet. She told him he needed to stay in bed a while longer, River simply shrugged. He had things to keep him occupied – even in bed.

At the moment, he was flirting outrageously with every medic of the female persuasion on Janet Fraiser's staff that passed by his bed. His good nature and way better than average good looks made more than one of the medics come back for more, and even though they all knew there was nothing serious about it – some of the women he was flirting with were old enough to be his mother, after all – it was as enjoyable for them as it was for him.

"Hey, River, how are you feeling?"

He looked up from the fifth piece of cake he'd managed to sweet talk out of the medics – including Doctor Fraiser – and grinned when he saw it was Shawn and Sam.

"Hey. How's the head?"

"It hasn't fallen off, yet. How about you?"

River shrugged.

"I'm fine. I could use a glass of milk, and I'm a bit tired of being in bed, but it beats running, I suppose, hey?" He flashed Sam a smile that she couldn't help but return – she wasn't any more immune to the young man's good nature than any of the others, apparently – and handed Shawn the extra piece of cake waiting to be eaten.

"Cake?"

"Where'd you get that?"

He had been to the Commissary and hadn't seen any cake. Especially one so thickly frosted with gooey chocolate frosting.

"It's Lieutenant Yearly's birthday, and she said I could have some of her cake."

"Some?" Sam asked. The slice he was working on was pretty big, and the slice he'd handed to Shawn was even bigger.

River smiled.

"It's a big cake. You want to share my piece Major O'Neill?"

Sam shook her head, although she did reach out a finger and take a dollop of the frosting from the edge of the piece.

"I'm not going to spoil my lunch by eating cake. And you shouldn't either."

"I'm not spoiling my lunch," River told her, flashing another smile at one of the medics who brought him a tall glass of milk before he could even ask for one. "I'll eat anything anyone wants me to."

Sam didn't doubt that for a moment. For someone as thin as he was, she was pretty sure he could back up that claim.

"Has anyone heard from Ian or Colonel O'Neill, yet?"

"Not yet." Shawn said.

"I'm sure they're fine," Sam told him.

River nodded.

"Of course they're fine. Who'd screw with Colonel O'Neill?"

He just wanted to be in on whatever they were doing.


	29. 29

"Teal'c?"

The Jaffa came over to stand close by, his looming form drawing Nathan's attention from Kinsey for a moment – it was hard to ignore someone that big, after all, and even more Nathan Brooks had always been good at spotting fellow warriors, and there was no doubt this guy was a warrior – not as easily as he carried himself. And judging by the way Kinsey looked at him, the Senator knew he was dangerous and was apparently expecting O'Neill to order Teal'c to rip his arms off or something. As it turned out, O'Neill didn't have anything of the sort in mind.

"Take Major Clay down to the basement and lock him in one of the cells for me." Jack didn't need the Major anymore at the moment, but he wanted him close at hand in case he did. "When you're done with that, the Senator's car should be out in front, still. Take it and ditch it somewhere – a parking lot downtown or someplace just as populated. Then do me a favor and check in with the others, and let them know everything's fine."

"Do you wish me to return?"

"No. I think Nate and I can handle this alone, and it's probably better that there aren't any witnesses..."

Teal'c nodded; O'Neill had shown every sign of softening a bit in the last few years, but it were moments like these that reminded the Jaffa that underneath that new family man exterior was a volcano waiting to explode when events warranted it – such as now – and the man could show a ruthlessness that was unequaled by any system lord the Jaffa had ever met or heard of.

"Shall I take the boy with me?"

Jack looked over at Brooks.

"Nate?"

Nathan was torn. He knew that this place was no place for Ian to be, but he also preferred to have his volatile son close at hand – a phone call in the middle of the night telling you your son is missing will turn even the hardest of men into a clinging father, after all. Common sense won out.

"That's not a bad idea," Brooks said. "If he gives you any trouble, pick him up and carry him out."

"I will have no trouble with him."

That was almost a definite. Ian was a lot of things, but if he was dumb enough to take on Teal'c then the young man definitely had no business being at the Air Force academy. Add in the yellow lab that was more than capable of tackling and subduing larger men than the cadet, and Jack was certain Ian would do whatever Teal'c told him. So was Teal'c.

The Jaffa turned to Clay and gestured for him to lead the way out of the room. More than happy to be going anywhere but where he was just then, Major Clay went immediately, not giving any reason for the Jaffa to hurt him, or even tell him to move faster. They headed down the stairs, and found Ian standing at the bottom of them, watching. The cadet moved out of the way when the Major reached the bottom of the stairs, and followed as Teal'c ushered him into one of the cells.

"What's going on up there?" Ian asked Teal'c as the Jaffa closed the cell door, then tugged on it to be certain it was locked.

"Your father and O'Neill are initiating their intimidation of Senator Kinsey."

"Good cop, Bad cop?" Ian asked.

Because of his association with O'Neill, Teal'c understood the reference where he might not have before.

"More like Bad cop, Bad cop."

Ian grinned, despite the seriousness of the situation. He could definitely see his father in that role, and it didn't take much imagination to picture Colonel O'Neill doing it, too.

"What am I supposed to do?" He asked.

"You are to accompany me." Teal'c said, giving Clay a final, sinister glare before heading for the stairway.

"What? Where are we going?"

"To take care of Senator Kinsey's automobile. O'Neill wishes it to be parked elsewhere – most likely so it can not be traced to this location."

"I'm supposed to go? Why?"

Teal'c turned, catching the beginning of what might be an argument from the cadet and ready to quell that instantly. He'd seen the cadet argue with O'Neill and his father; he wasn't going to let him argue with him.

"You are to come because it is what you are told to do, and you will do it without giving me any problems, or I will take matters into my own hands and make you come."

Ian paled just a little at the thinly veiled threat, and nodded – there was no way he was going to say no after _that_.

"Okay."

Teal'c turned his head in time to hide the satisfied smirk, and with Ian right behind him, the Jaffa headed out the back door of the house. After all, Kinsey and his captors blocked the front door, and Teal'c didn't want their leaving to be a distraction.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

They waited until they heard the sound of the car pulling out – after hearing two car doors slam – and then turned their full attention to Kinsey, who was starting shake from the nonstop tension of the last ten minute of being held at gunpoint as he'd been.

"This room is a little open for my liking, Jack," Brooks said. "Let's take him to the den."

O'Neill nodded, and grabbed Kinsey by the back of the neck and jerked him towards the right door.

"Please!" Kinsey shouted, falling to the floor and trying to huddle there. "Don't-"

"Get up you miserable piece of shit," Brooks told him, his voice still soft.

Jack reached down and grabbed him once more by the collar, easily pulling him to his feet, and he pushed him hard towards the door. The Senator stumbled and fell into the open door, and blanched when he saw the chair and the ropes that he assumed were waiting for him. (Actually they were what Jack had tied Clay up with, and had been left there when Teal'c had untied him)

"You can't do this!"

"Of course I can," Jack told him. "What's more; even if we get caught, there's not a Court in the land that will convict either of us – because we'll claim we were temporarily insane."

"Having your son kidnapped will do that to a man," Brooks agreed, reaching down and pulling Kinsey upright just as easily as Jack had a moment before. "I'm feeling pretty insane, myself."

"I didn't kidnap them! Major Clay did! It was _his_ idea!"

Jack had had enough. He hit Kinsey as hard as he could, right in the kidney, and Kinsey doubled over in Nathan Brooks' grip.

"You lying Sonofabitch. I was there when you called, Kinsey. I heard what you had planned for them. You'd have been smarter to come after _me_, Bob, because I probably would have let you live after I beat the shit out of you."


	30. 30

_Author's Note: Oh my goodness! You guys are sooo bloodthirsty suddenly! Hehe, I love it!_

OOOOOOOOOOO

The next hour was undoubtedly the roughest that Robert Kinsey had ever endured in his life. And it was just the beginning.

The first thing they did was ordered him to strip. There were several reasons behind this; a search for hidden weapons or other items, a definite intimidation factor, and the only one they told Kinsey – they hated the smell of urine before lunch. He blustered – trying more than once to intimidate the two with hollow threats and empty promises about how he was going to make sure they were both put in front of a firing squad for this, and then he tried bribing them – offering them an ungodly amount of money if they'd just let him go home.

Neither worked, of course. It's hard to intimidate men (or women) who had seen the horrors and atrocities that Jack and Nathan had seen in their days, and even harder to intimidate someone who hates your guts so much he'd risk his career rather than see you get away with something that you had no business doing. The two had eventually roughed him up a bit – nothing serious, unless you were a spineless jellyfish – but there were a few punches that landed, and the fists behind the punches were as unforgiving as the two fathers were. Bruised and slightly battered – with the promise of more to come – Kinsey found himself standing in nothing but his soiled boxers in the middle of the room.

"What a piece of shit..." Nathan Brooks said, scowling at the man. There were a few red marks on the Senator's sides that were already starting to bruise, and he had the beginnings of a fine shiner that was swelling his left eye closed, but really they hadn't even started, and the little blood that was seeping from Kinsey's nose wasn't enough to appease either man.

Jack nodded his agreement, anger burning through him more and more as he allowed his mind to go back over the events of the past night and morning, and what Kinsey had had planned for Shawn and the others. There would be no mercy. The more he thought about it, the less Jack wanted to let the Senator live. Alive he was always going to be a danger to Jack's family – and Jack had a baby on the way. God only knew what the sonofabitch would do then. Dead, he was no threat at all. Not to Jack. Not to Shawn or Sam, and not to the baby. That right there was reason enough to kill him.

Take into account the fact that there were two other families in danger – Ian's and River's – and that was even more of an argument to finish the threat here and now. Jack had never been one to leave an enemy behind if he could avoid it. And this time there was absolutely no doubt he could avoid it.

Kinsey wrapped his arms around his scrawny boy, hugging himself as he shivered – a mixture of the chill of the room and fear, no doubt – and watched the two, trying to see where the next blow was going to come from. Jack had a bit of interrogating he wanted to do first, though.

"How did you find out about Shawn?"

Kinsey paled, but didn't say anything.

Jack's temper flared at the silence, and he kicked out with his leg, crashing it into Kinsey's right knee. With a howl of pain the man went down.

"Tell me, Goddamn it!" He drew his leg back to kick him, and the Senator rolled away from him, right into Nathan Books' legs. Brooks stomped down on Kinsey's hand, eliciting another cry of pain. Then he drew his field knife – a fine piece of steel with a seven and a half inch blade that was razor sharp – and knelt down, his blue eyes completely merciless.

"You'd better tell him..."

Nathan didn't even need to make a threat concerning what he'd do with the knife if Kinsey didn't tell Jack what he wanted to know.

"I... it's a rumor...all... all around... _Everyone_ knows about him!" Kinsey said, trying to scuttle away from the knife, only to find himself backing into O'Neill, who looked over at Brooks.

Nathan shook his head.

"_I_ haven't heard anything about him."

"You're _retired_!" Kinsey cried desperately. "How would you hear about-"

"Shut up!"

Jack kicked him, hard, and Kinsey fell sideways, groaning and retching, his hand clutching his side as he tried to gather his breath, but O'Neill wasn't anywhere near done.

"Do you know what he is?" He asked.

"Wha- what?"

From the confused look in his eyes, Kinsey didn't have a clue what Jack meant – and that was good. If the Senator had known Shawn was a hybrid, he'd have shown panic the minute Jack said anything, and O'Neill knew it. Which meant that whatever the rumor was, it wasn't about that. Which meant that the Senator – and the NID – weren't after Shawn because of what he was. That made it entirely personal, and that was fine with Jack – although at that moment, he'd more than willingly have taken on anyone in the NID as well.

Nathan looked over at O'Neill with a slightly questioning look, but Jack pretended not to see it. Jaffer whined suddenly from where he'd been standing close to the door, and Jack looked over at him for the briefest of moments, feeling a sudden urge to go to the lab and wrap his arms around him and comfort him. He couldn't understand why he felt that way, but it was almost as if Jaffer was afraid, and Jack had never seen the lab so upset. He almost did it, but his anger overwhelmed him once more as he again thought back to what the man on the floor in front of him had almost gotten away with. He turned from Jaffer back to Kinsey.

"What were you planning on doing to them?" Jack asked.

"_Nothing_!"

"What were you going to do to them?"

"I was just going to scare you a bit – make you stop being such an arrogant bastard!" Kinsey said, ducking his head in his hands, defensively.

"Scare me by roughing up my son? He's _fourteen_ years old for Christ's sake! You rotten piece of shit..."

"I wasn't going to kill him... just hurt him!"

"Yeah? And what if he _saw_ you? What if he could identify you? What about the other two cadets? What if _they_ saw you? Then what?"

"They wouldn't have."

"You were going to head right for the fucking basement you lousy fucking liar!" Nathan had heard plenty, and his temper – which had already exploded – was even hotter. He reached down and slapped Kinsey as hard as he could. "You were going to let them see you, and then you were going to kill them!"

"_No_!"

It was true, but there was absolutely no way Kinsey was going to admit to that!

Jack pulled out the Glock that he'd taken – there was no way he'd use Sam's Beretta to kill the man. No way he'd allow anything to trace back to her. He chambered a round, and the noise echoed through the room. He'd heard all he needed to hear. Nathan was right. Kinsey had been heading to the basement, and there was no doubt in Jack's mind that he'd had every intention of killing all three of those boys. Rage coursed through him, and all he could see was red. He pointed the gun at Kinsey.

"You're never going to threaten anyone again..." His finger tightened on the trigger.

"Jack! No."

All three men whirled at the sound of the voice – a decidedly female voice that only Jack recognized. Standing at the door, with Jaffer standing next to her, was the very last person Jack had expected to see.

"_Dotty_?"


	31. 31

_Author's Note: We're going to up the rating on this chapter – and the story I think – to R. Graphic stuff coming up! Beware before you let your kids read this one, okay?_

OOOOOOO

Nathan's gun was in his hand in an instant and pointed at the woman before Jack had even made a sound. It was unnerving how silently she'd appeared – almost as if out of nowhere – and Nathan Brooks hated being unnerved.

A dangerous growl issued from Jaffer as Jack called Dotty's name, and the black lab stepped between Dotty and Nathan. By then, however, Nathan was aware that Jack O'Neill at least knew who the woman was – which didn't necessarily make her less of a threat, but since there was no hatred in O'Neill's voice, Nathan had to assume she wasn't someone in league with Kinsey. He lowered the gun, looking at Jack.

"Who is she?"

What the hell... in for a penny in for a pound.

"She's Dotty Adams. Shawn's mother."

"Oh."

"You can't kill him, Jack," Dotty said, walking across the room to stand close to the three men. She looked down at Kinsey with a dangerous glint in her eyes, but the Senator was so grateful that someone had shown up he didn't even recognize it.

"You don't understand what he's done, Dotty," Jack said. "What he was _going_ to do..."

"Of course I do." She put her hand lightly on his arm. "But you can't kill him. It's too risky."

"I'll kill him, then," Nathan said, raising his gun once more, but this time pointing it at Kinsey, who moaned helplessly, still clutching his injured side.

"You can't, either, Nathan."

Brooks looked at her sharply, wondering how the hell she knew his name and why she was using it so casually – almost as if they were friends. He knew he didn't know her – and he was damned positive she wasn't his friend. Obviously, though, she knew Jack – and had known him – if Shawn was her son with Jack. So that meant Jack liked her, which meant he obviously wouldn't kill her or anything. But still...

"He was going to kill my son, lady!"

She nodded.

"He was going to kill mine, too."

"I wasn't going to hurt-"

"Shut the _fuck_ up!" Brooks shouted, slamming the butt of his knife down at Kinsey, catching him in the chin with the blunted end. Blunted or not, a gash opened and the Senator started bleeding as he fell backwards.

"Dotty..." Jack moved instinctively to shield her from the sight of the cringing, bleeding man. "You need to leave. I'll take care of this."

"No, Jack. You're not going to kill him. I can't let you. There's too much riding on you to allow you to do something so brash."

"_Brash_?" For the first time since she'd arrived, O'Neill's temper flared. "He was going to kill Shawn! Because of a petty grudge he has against _me_. I can't risk him doing it again, Dotty! I need to make sure he doesn't-"

"I know, Jack." She didn't seem to be at all ruffled by the fact that he was yelling at her – in fact, she never let go of his arm, and never even looked concerned at being so close to him when he was angry. Most everyone else would have backed up at least a step or two – except Sam, of course – but Dotty knew better. "He'll pay. But you two can't do it. I won't allow it."

Nathan Brooks snorted.

"Won't allow it? I'd like to see you stop me." He'd had enough. The bastard was already wasting too much air that good honest folks should be breathing. The gun came up again, and he pulled the trigger without hesitation.

And was slammed backwards as he and the bullet were struck by something invisible and solid. The retired General crashed backwards, hitting the wall at a terrific velocity, and he slumped to the ground, motionless.

Immediately, Dotty was beside him, her hand running gently along his cheek and down to his neck.

"Jesus, Dotty!"

"Don't worry, Jack. He's fine. I-"

"_Yes_!" Kinsey had seen the whole thing, and even though he was shocked by the sudden events, he couldn't help but crow in mingled relief and fear. "You're going to get a special Presidential Citation for thi-"

"Shut up."

Dotty's voice was as dangerous as anything Jack had ever heard, and Shawn's mother rose to her feet and walked over to stand over the Senator. Dressed in khaki slacks and a light blue blouse, with low pumps and her hair freshly done up, the woman didn't look like a threat, but she was, and as she looked down on him, Kinsey felt an unexplainable tingle of fear lace through him, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up and his skin to be covered with goose bumps.

"You've made a terrible mistake, Senator Kinsey," Dotty told him. "You let your own anger and pettiness turn you to a path that you had no business stepping upon and that in turn led to a series of events that almost lead Colonel O'Neill and Gneral Brooks down an equally ill-advised course of action."

"I don't need a lecture from you, woman," Kinsey said, weakly, blood splattering his bare, pale chest from the gash on his chin. "Just get me the hell out of-"

"No." Dotty said, giving him a hard look. "Perhaps you're right. You don't need a lecture. You need a lesson."

She raised her hand, and for the first time Jack saw that there was some kind of device – small and almost invisible – in the palm.

"Lesson number one: _Never go near the Air Force academy_."

She made a gesture with her hand, and Kinsey was thrown backwards as a force of some type he didn't understand took hold of him and tossed him like a rag doll across the room, and through the wall. He screamed as his legs and arms broke – although miraculously none of his ribs or major organs were harmed, and his head wasn't hurt.

Dotty walked through the door calmly, her hand still up and facing him, and Jack followed after taking a quick look at Brooks, who was still unconscious.

"Stop!"

Kinsey couldn't raise his hands to ward her away, and couldn't move his shattered legs to escape her.

"Lesson number two-"

"No! Please!" Kinsey turned to Jack. "Oh, God, _O'Neill_! Stop her! I'll do anything!"

"Lesson number two..." Dotty repeated, completely ignoring his plea – as had Jack. He was too stunned by what he was seeing to say anything. "_Never go near anyone in the Hayden family_."

She made another gesture with her hand, and the Senator once more found himself flying through the air, and once more he crashed into a wall. This time he didn't go through it, but he slid down the wall landing painfully on his ruined legs.

He screamed in agony, and again, his torso and head were uninjured. Although he was in too much pain to notice it, Jack did, and he realized that Dotty wasn't planning on letting Kinsey die. He wondered how she was keeping him from going into shock, but he wasn't about to ask just then.

"Lesson number three: _Never go anywhere near anyone in the Brooks family_."

She made a negligent gesture, and flung her hand over her right shoulder. A moment later Kinsey found himself flying over her shoulder as well, and he crashed painfully to the floor, too hurt to do more than whimper and look at her with terror.

Dotty turned and looked at him, and Jaffer came over to stand next to Jack, putting his nose in O'Neill's hand. Jack rested his hand lightly on the black lab's shoulder, but couldn't take his eyes off the very gruesome scene he was witnessing.

"And the final lesson:" Dotty said, standing over Kinsey. "_Never_ go near my son. _Ever_."

She made a very slight gesture, and Jack cringed when he saw – actually saw – a bolt of power go from Dotty's hand straight for Kinsey's groin. The Senator made a screech – as awful a screech as Jack could ever remember hearing, and clutched himself with his broken hands.

Jack felt all the blood drain from his face, and for a moment he actually thought he was going to pass out. Jaffer put his cold nose in his hand once more, as if to reassure him, and he felt the wave of lightheadedness pass.

"God..."


	32. 32

_Author's note: Don't worry about Sam and the baby! Dotty's not finished just yet, I just didn't want the chapter to go too much longer so I found a good cut off spot – and Kinsey getting his nads smashed seemed as good a place as any. I decided that the story would stay PG-13 but the warning at the beginning of the chapters will let you know if the chapter is a bit gorier than others. This one is probably not R, but Dotty isn't finished with Kinsey, so you never know..._

OOOOOOOOOO

Dotty ignored Jack as she stood over Kinsey once more, looking down at him. The man was shattered – literally – and looking up at her with such horror and fear on his face that she knew even O'Neill and Brooks would feel that he'd paid a little for his crimes. What they didn't know – Jack because she didn't tell him, yet, and Nathan because he was unconscious – was that Kinsey's body wasn't cushioning any of this from him.

Where a normal human's body would have long since gone into shock, numbing the pain – or passed out because they were no longer able to handle the pain – Kinsey's body didn't have that option. She'd used a modification on the forcefield she held to protect his torso – the only bruising on his ribs or organs were from Jack and Nathan's preliminary beatings – and his skull. He had no life-threatening injuries at that moment. His legs and arms were shattered; yes, but the blood vessels that carried nutrients to those areas were still intact and so were the nerves. Of course they were! Dotty wanted him to feel everything.

"Please..."

Kinsey's whisper was agony itself, his eyes filled with tears and his face contorted with pain.

"Have you learned the lessons so far, Senator?" Dotty asked calmly. "Do you need another set of-"

"_No_!"

The shout echoed through the house.

Dotty leaned down, and Kinsey tried to shrink away in fear, but he couldn't move. His eyes widened in fear as she drew closer. It was obvious to Jack that he thought she was going to finish him off, and Jack wasn't sure that she wasn't – and wasn't sure if he wanted her to or not. Jaffer whined softly, bumping his head against Jack's hand once more, and Jack knelt down as well, wrapping his arms around his black lab's warm solid body as Dotty spoke up once more.

"We're not finished, Senator," the Ancient woman told him. "There's the matter of Jack and his family to deal with."

Kinsey looked over at O'Neill, panicked, as if he thought Jack was going to come over and finish things himself. Jack didn't move, though.

"Jack O'Neill is important to me – very important. He's the father of my son, after all." Let him think that was the only reason. "I have a special desire to see him and his family safe, and I'm not sure I can trust you to leave them alone. You seem to have a need for vengeance that I don't like."

That was the kettle calling the pot black, as far as Jack was concerned. Dotty had definitely shown her most vengeful side this afternoon. And it was something.

"I won't touch them..." Kinsey whispered.

"And you won't send anyone else to do your dirty work for you," Dotty added.

"No. _Never_."

His face was so filled with fear that Jack wasn't able to see if he was being a lying weasel or not – not from the distance he was at. Dotty was closer, though, and she probably knew one way or the other.

"I won't ask you for your word – I know your word means nothing to you. But remember this; I have a very long arm, Senator. You took me by surprise this time, but it'll never happen again." Her voice was hard. "I'm going to be watching you, now. I'll know _exactly_ what you do – and I'll know the minute you step out of line. And I _won't_ stop next time. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

She stood up, and went over to Jack and Jaffer and rested her hand on O'Neill shoulder.

"You should have let me kill him, Dotty. He's dangerous."

Dotty knelt next to Jack, and put her other hand on Jaffer's nose, affectionately.

"He's no danger to you, now, Jack – probably not a danger to anyone, because I _will_ be watching him and if he does anything I don't like, I'll stop it." She looked over at Kinsey, who was watching them. There was no hatred in his eyes, and no contempt – which Jack was used to seeing there. "Let's go check on your friend."

She stood up and they went into the den, where Nathan was still sprawled on the floor. As much as Jack was sorry his friend had missed the show, he was glad, too, because he didn't have to explain to him what had happened – which would have included explaining what Dotty was – or at least lying about the technology she had in her hand. Jack didn't feel up to making up any long drawn out cover story, and Nathan never would have bought one that wasn't well thought out. He was much too smart for that.

Dotty knelt down next to Nathan and touched his cheek. A moment later the General opened his eyes and looked around, then sat up.

"What happened?"

He looked at Dotty, who smiled gently at him.

"What happened?"

Jack walked over.

'We need to get out of here, Nate," he said, pulling him to his feet. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay," Brooks snapped. "And we're not leaving until Kinsey's-"

"We're done here, Nate." Jack interrupted. "Come look."

He led his friend out to the living room, and Brooks' eyes widened – both at the considerable damage to the house around him, and at seeing Kinsey slumped on the floor, his legs and arms in positions that told the General they were broken and his hands still clutching his battered groin.

"What the hell happened?"

"He got what was coming to him." Jack answered.

"What about now? We _can't_ leave him alive, Jack. It'd ruin your career."

"He's not going to say anything," Dotty said, looking down at Kinsey, who cringed when she had walked closer. Brooks noticed that Kinsey seemed more afraid of the woman than he did of Jack. Odd. "Are you, Senator?"

Kinsey shook his head so violently that Jack was surprised it didn't fall off.

"He'll make up a story to explain this."

"What about the others?" Brooks asked. "The man in the basement, the other soldiers?"

"They'll pay," Jack said. "We'd better get going. Do you have a car here, Dotty?"

She shook her head.

"How did you get here?" Brooks asked.

"Flew on my broom."

Nathan stared at her for a second, then barked a laugh, and pulled a set of keys from his pocket. "I have a jeep at the bottom of the hill. We can take that."

Jack nodded and tossed another key to Brooks, who caught it easily.

"Go toss that key to Major Clay. Tell him to wait ten minutes and then let himself out. Remind him what happened to Kinsey is nothing compared to what will happen to him if he opens his mouth."

Brooks looked at Kinsey and then at Jack, a satisfied expression on his face.

"I'll do that." He walked out of the room and they could hear the door to the basement opening.

"How did you know I was here, Dotty?" Jack asked as they headed for the kitchen as well.

"I can't tell you, Jack."

He nodded; he'd long since figured that if an alien said they couldn't tell you something, they weren't going to tell you – and it wasn't like he could threaten her or anything – even if he wanted to. Kinsey knew that better than anyone.

To his surprise, Dotty pulled him into a warm embrace, hugging him close. Jack could feel her trembling, and he realized that even with all the power she had and the technology she possessed, she was still a person, and one who'd come perilously close to losing her son. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight for a long moment.

"Thank you for saving him, Jack..." she whispered in his ear. "I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost him."

"You're never going to lose him," Jack promised her. "I won't let it happen."

She nodded, and pulled away, wiping her eyes, but forcing a trembling smile.

"You didn't _really_ fly on a broom, did you?"

She giggled, surprised by the question, and knew he'd asked it just to make her laugh. Before she could answer, though, Nathan reappeared at the top of the stairs.

"Are we ready to go?"

"Dotty?"

She nodded.

"Let's get out of here, then."

The four of them headed for the door.

"You know, O'Neill... you're going to have to explain what happened..." Brooks said. Jack wondered if Dotty had somehow made him forget that he'd been in the process of shooting Kinsey when he'd gone back into the wall.

"I think you fainted," Jack said.

Dotty laughed again, and Brooks snorted in amusement.

"_Bullshit_."

"No, seriously..."

"I've never fainted in my life..."

"That one time in Cambodia as I recall, you wen-"

"That time was _different_," Brooks interrupted as they started into the woods and down the hill. "And I thought you promised never to bring it up again?"

"You're the one who-"

"Fine..."

Laughter echoed through the trees, and it wasn't just Dotty's.


	33. 33

Teal'c's arrival on the base with Ian Brooks in tow created a bit of a stir. They arrived at the main gate in a cab and although Teal'c and Jack (the dog) were well known to the guards there, Ian wasn't, and there was no way they could let him in. Mindful of his promise to keep the cadet in sight, Teal'c had the Sergeant of the guard call General Hammond to the surface so the General could get them to let him in.

When Hammond arrived only minutes later – with Sam – he issued a set of temporary credentials to the cadet, and Ian was waved through with the others. He looked around with interest as they walked into the first hallway, and through the first set of security measures listening only with half his attention as Teal'c reported to Hammond and Sam about what had happened so far and what O'Neill was up to.

"Your dad is Nathan Brooks?" Hammond asked Ian when Teal'c told them who was with Jack.

Ian nodded.

"Yes, Sir."

"I wonder if Kinsey knew that..."

Ian shrugged.

"Shawn and River are in the infirmary," Sam said, noticing that Ian didn't seem to want to talk about his father. Maybe he was embarrassed? Or maybe he didn't want people to know his dad was a high-ranking officer? It could be anything.

"Are they all right?"

Sam nodded.

"It's just a precaution. River had Doctor Fraiser worried for a bit, but he's fine, and Shawn's head is too hard for anything to hurt him, I think."

Ian smiled.

"Can I see them?"

"I think it'd be a good idea," General Hammond said. He wanted the three together for now – and he definitely wanted River and Ian to stay someplace out of the way and away from anything sensitive. He still wasn't sure what he was going to tell them. "I'd like Doctor Fraiser to take a look at you – even though you said you were fine – and then we'll discuss why you went with Teal'c when I'm sure you weren't supposed to."

Hammond gave the young man a stern look, but Ian wasn't even phased by it. Of course, Sam reasoned, if his father was a general then he probably wasn't in awe of anyone with rank. Which might explain why he was so often in trouble at school.

"I'll take him to the infirmary, General," Sam offered.

"Make sure he stays there, Major."

"Yes, Sir."

Hammond walked off with Teal'c, leaving Sam and Ian to finish the trek to the infirmary alone.

"He's pretty pissed, huh?" Ian asked.

"He's not happy," she agreed. "Why _did_ Thor take you with Teal'c?"

"I tricked him into it," Ian admitted. "I told him Colonel O'Neill said I was supposed to go."

"I'll bet Jack was thrilled to see you..." Sam said as they went through the infirmary door.

Ian smiled.

"Oh, yeah. He wasn't happy. I'm surprised he didn't kick me all the way back here."

Sam was, too.

Shawn and Janet Fraiser walked over, interrupting their conversation before Sam could ask what Jack had said, and Ian was glad to see that Shawn didn't seem to have any ill-affects of the head shot he'd taken.

"How ya feeling, Adams?" he asked the younger boy.

"I'm fine," Shawn answered. "Have you seen Jack? What's going on? Is he here?"

Ian shook his head.

'I've seen him, I'm not sure exactly what he's up to – or if I'm supposed to tell you, and no, he's not here."

"I'll tell him," Sam said, smiling. "You go with Janet here and get checked out."

Ian nodded, but looked over Shawn's shoulder and saw River sitting up in a bed about halfway down the aisle.

"Is it all right if I go talk to Hayden first?"

Sam nodded, and Ian headed down the aisle, apologizing to a nurse that he accidentally bumped because he wasn't paying attention to what was going on around him. River had a tray in front of him with about a dozen plates and saucers on it, along with three empty glasses and a bowl that was filled with ice cream.

"Jesus, Hayden," Ian said as he came over and looked at his roommate. "Have you been eating since I left?"

River shook his head, smiling.

"They're trying to fatten me up, I think. How are you?"

"Could be worse. You?"

"I'm fine. I think they're holding me here because they're not sure what to do with me."

"Sounds like it," Brooks said, agreeing. "They're going to make me stay here, too, now. And probably for the same reason."

"What's going on?" River asked, lowering his voice just a little. "Have you seen that little gray guy again?"

"Thor?"

River nodded.

"No."

"But you did see him, right?"

"Oh yeah."

"And we did get beamed up or something, right?"

"Uh huh."

"Good. I thought maybe I was imagining that."

"That's some fucking imagination you've got then, Hayden," Ian said. "Because you imagined me up right along with you."

River grinned.

"I brought you a souvenir," Ian told him, reaching into his shirt and pulling out the dart gun. He set it on the tray next to the bowl of ice cream.

"What's that?"

"One of those tranquilizer guns they shot us with."

"Cool."

River picked it up, checking it out.

"Is it loaded?"

"Nah."

"Cool."

River held the gun out, looking down the sights at his friend.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Both cadets jumped at the sound of Janet Fraiser's voice – her very pissed off voice – and looked over at her. She was walking down the aisle towards them, frowning, and she reached out and grabbed the barrel of the gun, pulling it down and moving it so its sights weren't on Ian. The motion pulled River's finger against the trigger, and the gun went off with a loud crack, and Fraiser winced as she felt a sudden sharp pain in her upper thigh.

"Jesus!"

River dropped the tranquilizer gun with a clatter; surprised at the way the shot reverberated through the room.

"What the hell-"

Sam had come over in an instant – as had several large medics – all investigating the sound, which had sounded like a gunshot, but not exactly the same.

She arrived just in time to catch Janet when she started to fall, and River looked over at Ian in horror.

"I thought you said it wasn't loaded!"


	34. 34

Ten minutes after O'Neill and the others left the safe house, Major Allen Clay released himself from the basement cell with the key the retired General had given him and headed upstairs, afraid of what he was going to find. The General had seemed so satisfied and almost smug when he'd come down to the basement and the basement was sound-proofed, so Clay wouldn't have heard a shot if they'd shot Kinsey – which he was sure they had. There was no way they had left him alive. They wouldn't dare, would they?

What he found was worse – far worse – than what he'd expected. Kinsey was alive, lying sprawled in an indignant heap in the middle of the living room floor. Clay looked around the beat up room as he hurried over to the Vice President, wondering what they'd done to do so much damage to the room, and then when he looked at Kinsey he wondered how they'd managed to do so much damage to him without killing him.

"_Sir_!"

Kinsey whimpered, and Clay wondered what was wrong with him that he was trying to hold his testicles so tightly. No doubt that Bastard O'Neill had shot him there – like he'd threatened to shoot Clay. When the Major carefully moved Kinsey's hands, however, there was no blood seeping through the Vice President's boxers. Only the reek of urine and shit.

"I'll call an ambulance, Sir..." He said, standing up.

"No!"

Kinsey tried to raise an arm, and moaned softly at the agony lacing through his arm.

"Sir?"

"You can't let them come here, Major... I don't... want to have to explain..."

Ah. Clay realized he was trying to save his own ass. Even as shattered as it was. If the cops came here – and they would once people saw what kind of shape Kinsey was in – they'd check the house, and find out just what kind of secrets the place held. Kinsey would be facing questions he didn't want to face – and so would Major Clay.

"What do you want me to do, Sir?"

"Get me to... a hospital... we'll say I had a car accident..."

Yeah. A car accident would explain the broken bones, but there wasn't very much blood, and no bruising on his torso or firmness of his abdomen that signified any internal bleeding as near as Clay could tell.

"I'd have to move you, Sir..."

"No shit..." Kinsey wasn't so far gone that he couldn't comment on how fucking utterly stupid that response was. How the hell else was he going to get him there? Stupid Major.

Clay flushed.

"I'll make splints, Sir. Just hold on..."

OOOOOOO

It took him a long time to do it, and he was as careful as he could be, but Kinsey screamed in pain more than once while the Major immobilized his arms and legs as well as he could and then improvised a stretcher using an ironing board that had never been used before but had come with the house when Kinsey bought it. He put the Vice President into the back of the van – which luckily didn't have any seats, and then had to run back down to the basement to retrieve the keys to the vehicle from his pants.

"Don't you worry, Sir," Clay said as he started the engine, looking down at Kinsey as he did so. "We'll get you taken care of and then O'Neill and that General are going to pay. I'll figure out where my men are – or get a new squad – and we'll take both of those bastards down for what they did to you."

"O'Neill didn't do it," Kinsey said, weakly.

"That Brooks guy, then."

"He didn't do it, either," Kinsey said. "I'm not going anywhere near either of them again, major, and if I hear even a peep that you are _thinking_ about it, I'll have your ass in a crack so quickly you won't know what's happened. Do you understand?"

Clay looked down at Kinsey again, amazed by the fact that he'd managed to say all that with one breath – as much pain as he was in. Then he was equally dismayed by what he'd heard. Not go after them? Of course they should go after them – after both of them. He knew where the kids slept now. Next time he wouldn't use dart guns.

"But, Sir-"

"No, Goddamn it!" The Senator's face was alive with anger, now, and Clay knew it was directed at him, and he recoiled from it. "You do what I tell you, Major, or I'll kill you myself."

He didn't understand it. Didn't understand any of it. But he nodded. What else could he do? The Vice President didn't want him to do something, and for God's sake, he wasn't going to do it.

"Yes, Sir..."

"Good." Kinsey relaxed a bit – as much as a man with such injuries could – and closed his eyes, trying to ignore how much he hurt. "Now, get me to a hospital, and think of a good accident story."

"Yes, Sir."

OOOOOOOOOOO

They dropped Dotty off at her house first, and Jack told Nathan he'd be right back as the two got out of the car, with Jaffer right behind them. He walked her up to the door, noticing that her car was in the driveway – although James' wasn't. So she hadn't driven that. Which made him wonder how she _did_ get to the safe house. And reminded him that he needed to get hold of Thor, as well. But not until he was alone – or at least, not with Nathan. There were already enough people who had seen things they weren't supposed to see.

He wasn't worried about the soldiers; he could tell them pretty much any story to make them think they'd passed out or something and had ended up in the cells they were in. The cadets, on the other hand, were another story entirely. That would take some thinking – and fast.

"Are you going to be all right?" He asked Dotty as she stopped to pull her house key out of a little invisible pocket in her blouse.

She nodded, and gave him a tremulous smile.

"I will, Jack. Thank you."

Jack nodded, as well, and took her hand for a moment.

"Thanks for not letting me kill him, Dotty. Your way is better in the long run, I suppose."

"It _is_ better, Jack, trust me. And this way you won't have the taint of retribution on your soul."

"What do you mean?"

She shook her head.

"It'd take too long to explain. Just trust me, okay?"

He nodded again. He didn't have time to try and talk her out of an explanation, anyways. He had to get back to the SGC and check on things there.

"Are you still coming over for Thanksgiving dinner?"

"Of course. Don't forget; we'll have River with us."

"I'll make sure Sam knows."

Sam would know, though. She never forgot anything.

"Get going, Jack, before your friend decides to leave you here."

He grinned and said good-bye, and turned and headed back for the Jeep. Jaffer nuzzled Dotty cheerfully for a moment and she gave him a quick hug, then the black lab took off as well, chasing Jack down and beating him to the Jeep. They'd missed breakfast, after all and he was hungry!


	35. 35

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"Hey, _I_ didn't shoot-"

"You brought a _gun_ into the infirmary??"

"It's a _tranquilizer_ gun," Ian said, defensively, well aware there was absolutely no way he was going to bring up the fact that he also had a Glock in his pants.

He and River were standing in the hallway outside of the infirmary only minutes after Janet Fraiser had been brought down with a hefty dose of the drug that had leveled River and himself only ten hours before – although it seemed like forever. Standing with them was Major Samantha O'Neill, and standing across from them, well on his way into a first class ass chewing was General George Hammond, who had been on his way in the door of the infirmary with Teal'c and Jack (the dog) and had heard the shot and seen Fraiser go down. He'd been terrified that the stupid cadets had managed to kill the best Medical officer he'd ever had, and that fear had turned to anger once he'd been reassured that she'd be fine in a few hours.

Hammond turned a brilliant shade of red, and Sam wondered how she was going to keep the General from having a heart attack or something, when he turned his attention from Ian to River.

"What were you pointing that thing at him for anyways?"

"He _told_ me it wasn't loaded..."

"Did you check for yourself? Of course you _didn't_," Hammond answered, "Or you would have _seen_ that it was!"

He glared at both of them.

"I have half a mind to throw you both in the brig."

"For _what_?" Ian asked, still defensive. While he was more than willing to accept the blame for bringing the tranquilizer gun into the infirmary, _he_ hadn't been the one who'd tried to take it from River – and he hadn't shot the doctor. He knew better than to sight a gun at someone else – even an empty one.

Sam groaned, wondering if Hammond's head was just going to explode or if it'd pop off and roll down the hall. Ian wasn't helping things at all – although she could see that he honestly didn't seem to be trying to be disrespectful. He just naturally seemed to come out sounding that way. Another reason he was probably always running at the Academy.

"For _what_?" A big vein was popping out on Hammond's forehead, and River watched it, fascinated. "You shot my chief medical officer!"

"_I_ didn't."

"_You_ gave him the gun!"

"_I_-"

"General," River interrupted, knowing that no matter what Ian said, it wasn't going to be the right thing – and worse, it'd probably be _way_ over to the side of the wrong thing. "It's _my_ fault, Sir. I knew better than to point it at anyone, and Doctor Fraiser was just reacting to what she saw – she couldn't have known it wasn't a regular gun – and she was definitely putting herself into harms way to protect Ian here. I'm the one whose finger got trapped in the trigger and I'm the one who shot her. I take full responsibility."

"_What_?" Ian looked over at him, annoyed. "You can't take full responsibility. It was my fault, too."

River shook his head.

"You didn't do anything wrong. You were just giving me a souvenir. You said it yourself."

"_I_ told you it wasn't loaded – and I should have checked it myself. That makes it my fault, too."

"No," River scowled, getting annoyed. "You-"

"_Shut up_!"

They stopped arguing and looked at Hammond, who looked about as exasperated as Sam had ever seen him – even when dealing with Jack at his worse.

"You're both in the wrong. You'll both stay beside Doctor Fraiser's bedside from the moment I release you until she wakes up and dismisses you. You will wait on her hand and foot and be civilized and polite to her, each other and everyone you come in contact. That's an order. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir." River said.

"Yes, Sir," Ian parroted an instant later.

Hammond looked over at Sam.

"How long until she wakes up?"

"A couple of hours, Sir."

"Take these two miscreants to the briefing room and wait for me there."

"Yes, Sir."

Sam turned and gestured for the two of them to follow her, and led them towards the elevator. When it opened, however, she found herself suddenly swarmed by Jaffer, who was greeting her as though he hadn't seen her in days instead of merely hours. Along with the lab were Jack and Nathan Brooks, and the Cadets stood to the side as the two men got off the elevator.

"Jaffer..."

Jack's soft command reminded Jaffer that Sam didn't need to be slobbered all over, and the black lab snuffled Sam once more then went back over to stand next to Jack, still watching her happily.

"How..."

"Sam? Allow me to introduce you to Nathan Brooks. Major General Nathan Brooks – retired Air Force."

"Major O'Neill," Nathan took Sam's hand and smiled, and she looked from Nathan to Ian, trying to see any resemblance. They had a few features that were similar, but the cadet really didn't look much like his father. Certainly his coloring – blonde hair and blue eyes – would have made her think he was related to River before she'd have considered Ian.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir."

"_Nathan_," Brooks corrected. "I'm retired, so you don't have to pay homage to my rank. Ian certainly doesn't.'

Ian rolled his eyes, but he had to admit he was glad to see Colonel O'Neill and his father back from where they'd been. Not that he'd been all that _worried_ – he was certain that they could handle Senator Kinsey just fine, it was just that he... didn't want to have to explain to his mother what had happened if something had went wrong. Yeah, that was as good a reason as any, he told himself.

Sam smiled.

"Nathan."

"Where are you three going?" Jack asked. "Where's Shawn?"

"Shawn's in the infirmary with Teal'c, waiting to make absolute sure that Doctor Fraiser is not going to have the same allergic reaction to the tranquilizer that Cadet Hayden here had."

"What?"

Sam looked over at the Cadets, and she had to force herself not to smile. Now that she knew Janet was fine, it was a little humorous – although she knew Janet wouldn't find it at all funny. At least not right away.

"I shot her with a tranquilizer gun," River admitted.

"You..." Jack looked at Sam to see if he was kidding, but she shook her head, her eyes dancing with amusement. "You..."

"Shot her," Ian supplied.

"Why would you do a thing like that?"

"It was an _accident_," River said, just as defensively as Ian had been. "I was pointing it at Ian, here..."

"A much better choice," Jack said, looking at the dark-haired cadet and smiling to make sure the young man knew he wasn't serious. "Why were-"

"I need to take these two to debriefing, Jack," Sam said, interrupting. "Why don't you go say hi to Shawn and introduce him to Nathan here, then find General Hammond and join us?"

Bah.

"Yeah... why don't I do that...?" He said, looking over at the senior Brooks. "Come on, Nate. I'll introduce you to Shawn."


	36. 36

Author's Note: Sorry this took so long! I had trouble logging on.

OOOOOOOOOO

"So..."

They were on the elevator; just the three of them. Sam looked over at Ian, who'd spoken.

"Hmmm?"

"_Briefing room_, huh?"

She nodded.

"That's not Air Force jargon for 'torture the guys for shooting the doctor room', is it?"

Sam smiled.

"No."

"I'm betting it's where we're going to be told to keep our mouths shut about what we've seen," River said.

"Or where they'll explain it a little better," Ian added, hopefully.

Sam didn't say anything, which pretty much confirmed what they were thinking. Of course, she wasn't all that surprised they'd figured it out – the two were bright young men, after all. Or they wouldn't be in the Academy.

"Doctor Fraiser _will_ be all right, right?" River asked Sam.

"They said she would – and they're the best doctors in the world."

"So..." Ian was looking at Sam intently, his dark eyes thoughtful. "Shawn told me that you're involved in deep space telemetry..."

She nodded.

"Got a lot of telescopes buried down here in this mountain?"

"NORAD uses-"

"NORAD uses radio telescopes and very little telemetry, Major," Ian said. "I know. I checked it out when I was debating what I wanted to do with the Air Force when I got out of the Academy. They don't do anything with deep space..."

Sam smiled. Oh, yeah, he was bright. Too bright, maybe?

"You'll have to wait and hear what General Hammond tells you."

"And if he tells us you're in deep space telemetry?"

"Then _that's_ what I'm in."

The door swooshed open and she led them to a staircase, which led in turn to an open well-lit room that was dominated by a table surrounded with comfortable leather chairs. Obviously, this was the briefing room.

"Have a seat guys."

If they were nervous, it didn't show. Both cadets sat down, although Sam noticed Ian winced slightly when he sat down, and shifted a little.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

He nodded.

"Pinched myself."

Since he didn't explain further, she didn't ask, but she did wonder why he suddenly looked a little guilty. Before they could say much of anything to each other, however, the door opened and General Hammond came through.

"You two pose something of a problem to me..." Hammond said without preamble as he came over and sat down at the head of the table.

The cadets didn't know what to say to that since they weren't sure if he was referring to the shooting of Doctor Fraiser or the fact that they were on his top-secret base.

Hammond looked at both of them, scowling, but neither wilted under that look. Sam was impressed, but Hammond was annoyed. He was hoping to intimidate them a little, but it apparently wasn't going to happen. Ian Brooks, of course, had been around high-ranking brass all his life, Hammond decided, and that would rub away a lot of mystique about them. River Hayden was probably just young enough and brash enough to not want to show any fear around his friend.

Hammond was wrong about that, though. River just plain didn't fear anything. He was far too easy-going to have phobias, and was way too intelligent to believe that Hammond was going to do anything to mess up his possible career as an Air Force pilot. After all, he hadn't asked for any of this to happen, and shooting the doctor aside, none of it was his fault.

Finally Hammond broke the silence in the room.

"Suppose I told you that everything you'd seen today was simply a drug-induced hallucination?"

Ian snorted.

"I'd say that was bullshit."

He saw Sam close her eyes in disbelief and realized what he'd said.

"Of course, I'd probably get in _trouble_ for saying that whole bullshit line, so then I'd probably say I didn't believe it..." He added, lamely.

Hammond scowled, but he didn't turn quite as red as he had been in the hallway.

"Well, you're right. It's not a hallucination."

The cadets were silent, waiting for whatever they were going to hear next.

"What you've seen is technology that we've managed to procure from sources that we don't really want to spread around too much," Hammond said.

"You're talking about Thor?" River asked.

Hammond sighed. So much for hoping they wouldn't think about that part. Of course, he'd known it was too much to hope for. After all, it was hard to forget Thor once you've seen him, Hammond knew.

"I'm talking about sources we need to keep secret." He told them, sternly. "The only reason you found out about them was because it was necessary to save you from what was happening – and even then, had I been contacted first, we might well have come up with a better way of doing it."

"Well, since I don't know exactly what they had planned for us – or _when_ they had it planned – I'm going to be glad no one bothered to contact you, Sir," Ian said, leaning forward. "Secrets aside, I _saw_ the hardware those guys had with them in that safe house, and I'm pretty sure they were willing to use it."

Hammond scowled, and River nudged Ian's side to shut him up. The General looked over at Sam, but she wasn't sure what to say. From what little she'd heard and seen, she though Ian was probably right. Especially since Kinsey was involved. Sam wouldn't hold him above doing anything to anyone to prove a point. He'd shown plenty of times what kind of man he was, after all.

Hammond leaned back in his chair. He'd already spoken to those he needed to speak with about this. The President –the President, _now_, not President-elect Hayes – had told him that he had full permission to do whatever he wanted. Of course, this was the President who'd also allowed Shawn Adams to go to the Air Force academy years before he should have, and had filled out all the necessary forms that would allow Andrew Stephens to go there as well when he was ready to, so there was very little surprise that Hammond had been given full rein to do as he wished concerning two cadets who were of legal age and already in the Military.

"You two are members of the United States Air Force," Hammond said. "Although you don't carry the rank yet, some day – God forbid – you will both be officers, and will be given the privileges and responsibilities that come with that rank. For now, though, you're still held accountable to the oaths that you swore when you entered the Academy – and that includes the one where you swore to obey all lawful orders given to you by a ranking officer. Do you remember that oath, gentlemen?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Yes, Sir."

"I am going to tell you a few things that you need to know – mainly because it's simply safer to let you know than to allow you to remain in the dark and try to guess for yourself what you've seen. You two will keep this information to yourselves, and you will not discuss it with anyone off this base unless specifically ordered to do so by myself. Do you understand?"

Ian leaned forward slightly, and nodded.

"Yes, Sir."

River nodded, as well, just as interested in whatever was coming.

"Yes, Sir."

"If you disobey this order, you will be court-martialed and I will make sure both of you are sent to Leavenworth for the rest of your lives. If not shot outright for Treason. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Yes, Sir."

"Major O'Neill?" Hammond turned to Sam, who sat up a little. "Please go make sure that Colonel O'Neill keeps General Brooks occupied for a while. This isn't anything he needs to know about and I'd prefer he and Jack didn't walk in here in the middle of it."

"Yes, Sir."

Sam stood up, and left the room, closing the door behind her, and Ian turned to Hammond.

"She's _not_ in deep space telemetry, is she?"

Hammond allowed a slight smile.

"No… she's not. Not exactly. What she is is involved in some scientific research that we'd much rather keep secret than allow the rest of the world to know about…"


	37. 37

There was no doubt at all that the brown haired and brown eyed young man that was walking towards them was Shawn, Nathan decided when Jack took him into the infirmary a few minutes after the meeting with Major O'Neill. Where Ian looked very little like Nathan, Shawn looked an awful lot like his father, and there was no doubt who that was when the two of them greeted each other as Nathan looked on.

Then Jack had put his hand on Shawn's shoulder, and had introduced him to Nathan.

"Nate, this is Shawn. Shawn, this is Ian's father, Nathan Brooks."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." Shawn said, offering Nathan his hand with a smile.

"Oh, I assure you, son, the pleasure's mine," Nathan said, shaking the young man's hand. "Although I must say, I expected to do it under different circumstances."

Shawn smiled.

"How's the doc?" Jack asked Teal'c, who came walking up with Jack (the dog) only a moment later.

"She will recover without complication."

Shawn told them the story of what happened while Nathan looked around the room curiously. He'd never actually been in Cheyenne Mountain – although he'd heard some rather interesting rumors about the place the last several years. He'd never looked into those rumors, because he was a believer in the old adage that if the Military wanted you to know something they'd tell you – besides, from what he'd heard Jack O'Neill had come out of his retirement to work the project, so whatever it was, it was in good hands.

"Have you had breakfast, Nate?" Jack asked, breaking the General out of his musing.

Brooks shook his head.

"I had an early start to my day, Jack, and didn't have time. You?"

"Nope. But I'm going to go find Sam before I eat and see if she needs anything. I was going to suggest you and Shawn head for the Commissary – with Teal'c if he's interested – and get started, and I'll come meet you there once I know what's going on."

Nathan nodded.

"Sounds like a plan." He figured it was also Jack's way of keeping him out of the way while he took care of secret stuff, but Nathan didn't mind. Shawn seemed like a nice enough young man, and if he was Ian's roommate, then Nathan wanted a chance to get to know him better anyways.

"Shawn, no stories about camp," Jack warned him, before turning and leaving the room with Teal'c.

"Camp?" Nate asked. "What's he talking about?"

Shawn smiled; looking a lot more like Jack just then, and gestured for the retired General to follow him out of the infirmary.

"Well, that's an interesting story... the first time Jack and I went to summer camp together, we had quite the adventure..." He began to tell the story, which was perfect, since it was long enough and interesting enough that it would last at least until they reached the commissary and maybe through breakfast if General Brooks showed any interest in the extended version. Besides, it was a story Shawn enjoyed telling.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sam met Jack about halfway to the briefing room. He noticed she was wearing an amused look on her face when she stopped him, and figured that if she was amused then at least Hammond hadn't decided to hold them on charges or something for shooting Fraiser. Of course, from what he'd heard, that was as much her fault for grabbing the barrel of the gun and pulling it towards herself as it was River's for pulling the trigger. Everyone knew you pushed the barrel away from yourself, not the other direction. Maybe they'd better sign her up for a refresher self defense class...

"How's it going?" Jack asked.

"I think he's going to need a vacation by the time he's done with them," Sam said, smiling. "Ian's got him so riled up with his automatic potty mouth and absolute disregard for rank that Hammond's looking ready to explode any minute."

"That young man has a lightning quick mouth, that's for sure," Jack said, smiling. It wasn't necessarily a good thing, of course, but it wasn't the end of the world, either. Other things were far more important. "What's Hammond telling them?"

Sam shrugged.

"I'm not completely sure... but he wants to do it alone, so I thought I'd see if you wanted to go have some lunch."

"I just sent Shawn off with Nate to the Commissary. We could join them, and then when Hammond's done, he can come find us, or send for us."

Sam nodded, and fell into step beside Teal'c and Jack as they turned and headed down the corridor. She'd already had breakfast, but she was fairly certain Jack hadn't had anything yet, and if Jack hadn't, then Jaffer hadn't either, and that big dog could get pretty moody when he was hungry.

OOOOOOOOOO

"So let me get this straight," Ian said about an hour later. "You guys do research here…?"

Hammond nodded.

"Not just research, son… _high tech research_. On items that are so top secret, we don't even want _rumors_ of them getting out…"

"Like Thor?" River asked.

"Yeah… what is Thor?" Ian asked, jumping on the subject. Thor had looked awfully damned _real_ to him – way too real to be a puppet of some kind.

"He's a robot," Hammond lied, smoothly. "A state of the art animatron that Major O'Neill developed to handle the more explosive technology – and for use eventually on the International Space station."

"And you made him look like an alien because…?

Hammond shrugged.

"Major O'Neill has an interesting sense of humor at times…"

Ian frowned; he didn't buy it, and Hammond could tell from the look on Cadet Hayden's face that he wasn't all that sure about it, either. Of course, River had been out of it for most of the events, so he was a bit easier to convince than Ian, who had been there and seen everything. But it was the story he was giving them, and there was nothing that would change it – short of a Presidential order.


	38. 38

When General Hammond himself escorted the two cadets back down to the infirmary after their briefing, he told them to stick around that room and to stay close to Doctor Fraiser's bed in case she woke up. He also left instructions with the medical staff that anything the doctor needed – no matter how small or unpleasant it might be – was to be done by the cadets. He secretly wished there were a couple dozen bedpan that needed washing, but he was out of luck – or they were _in_ luck, one or the other.

Leaving the infirmary – with another admonishment to the two to stay out of trouble – Hammond went to the commissary to find the members of SG-1 and Nathan Brooks. They were all there, including Daniel Jackson – who had arrived on base late that day because of a lecture he'd attended that morning and had been amazed at hearing what he'd missed. He'd gone to check on Janet – only to find her sleeping, and then had pulled Teal'c to the side for the rest of the story – the one Jack couldn't tell, because of the retired General who didn't know anything about Thor or the Asgard or beaming people up and the like.

"Nathan..."

Brooks stood up when Hammond joined him, as did both O'Neill's.

"George, it's good to see you again." Nathan held out his hand and Hammond shook it with a smile.

"You two know each other, Sir?" Jack asked.

"There aren't that many Generals in the Air Force, Colonel," Hammond said. "Every now and then we do have to get together and make sure none of them have decided to run off and join the Navy."

"It's been a while, George."

"That it has, Nathan." Hammond sat down and the others sat as well. "I just left your son in the infirmary with cadet Hayden to wait for Doctor Fraiser to wake up – he sure does look like Maggie."

Brooks nodded.

"Lucky for him," Jack said. Maggie, Jack knew, was Margaret. Brooks' wife – who Jack had met a few times, but honestly never would have been able to pick her out of a line up – it had just been that long.

"And poor Shawn here, stuck looking just like you, eh, Jack?" Nathan looked over at the brown-haired cadet, who smiled. "Poor kid." He shook his head, his eyes filled with pity.

"Your Ian has your sunny personality, Nathan," Hammond said, unaware that he was echoing a statement Jack had said earlier that day. "And a mouth like a sailor. Are you sure he's in the Air Force?"

"He's got a mouth on him, that's for sure," Nathan said, frowning. "That's why I made him go to the academy – to get it disciplined out of him. That and his temper. It's a doozy – worst one I've ever seen, and I've seen my share."

"_I_ like him," Sam said. "He's a little rough around the edges, but he's never been anything but polite to me."

Shawn smiled; glad someone was sticking up for his roommate. Of course it would be Sam. _Sam_ was perfect, as far as Shawn was concerned – and she was far too fair to let people pick on someone who wasn't there to defend himself.

"_You_ like Jack, here, too, Major..." Nathan pointed out. "Look at the temper on him..."

"He's a sweetheart."

Shawn snickered and Jack threw him a reproachful look.

"Nothing out of you, young man," he said, pointing a finger at him. "Or I'll make sure you eat the leftovers with the dogs on Thursday."

Since there was absolutely no way the dogs – which included Jaffer and Jack – were going to be forced to eat scraps on Thanksgiving, the threat was a weak one, and pretty much everyone at the table knew it.

"Speaking of..." Sam turned to Nathan. "You're welcomed to come for Thanksgiving dinner, Nathan."

Brooks smiled and shook his head.

"I have to get back to New Jersey. I left in a hurry, and Maggie and I have a few things we need to take care of. Shawn here told me you were taking Ian in for the weekend, though, and I appreciate that."

"I'm glad to have him," Sam told him truthfully. "He's a fine young man."

"Who will make a fine young officer someday. Him and River, both," Jack said.

"You think so Jack?" Nathan asked, turning to his friend. "Even with his smart mouth and bad temper?"

Jack smiled, but much to Nathan's surprise, it was Daniel who answered.

"A short temper and a smart mouth aren't liabilities, Nathan," He said. "Look at Jack, here. He's got both – _in spades_ – and no one would dare call him a bad officer. A bad _example_... maybe... and a bad dresser... well... _yeah_... and a bad-"

"We get it, Daniel," Jack said, cutting him off, scowling.

OOOOOOOO

When she opened her eyes, she had no idea where she was. She did know who she was – and that was a plus – but her head was pounding something fierce, and her mouth was dry, and hers eyes were just a bit unfocused.

"Hey, I think she's coming out of it!"

The shout – at least it _seemed_ like a shout – came from right next to her ear, and Janet turned her head and looked to see who was yelling.

She realized two things immediately. One; she was in bed, and two; she was in the infirmary. Then she saw who was leaning over her, and she wondered who he was for the briefest of moments before she remembered.

"You're River."

The blonde nodded his head, his blue eyes watching her intently.

"Yes ma'am."

"You have pretty eyes."

There was a snort of amusement from the other side, and Janet turned away from River – who was blushing at the compliment – to see who else was there. The dark eyes were as cheerful and amused as the blue eyes had been concerned.

"Ian... right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

She was surrounded by good-looking young men... too young for her, of course, but it was fun looking. Especially when you're still a bit doped up and things that come to your mind immediately go straight out your mouth.

"I love your hair."

Now it was Brooks' turn to blush, and River's turn to snicker.

"Um... thanks." He gave River a dirty look, but there was no sign of it when he looked back down at the groggy doctor.

"How do you feel, ma'am?"

"How am I?" She asked.

"You're fine, Doctor Fraiser," a new voice said, and Janet looked over to see one of her senior staff members standing over her, now, as well.

"Hal?" She frowned. "Is that a new toupee?"

The Captain flushed slightly, looking at the two cadets, who were both trying to hide smiles.

"She's still feeling the affects of the tranquilizer," the doctor told them. "Doesn't know what she's saying."

"Of course not..." Ian said, looking over at River.

"You know, _I've_ always admired your hair, too, Ian..." River told him with a smile.

"Fuck you, Hayden," Ian murmured – although his voice was just as amused as River's was, and his eyes were dancing with humor, now. "You can take your pretty eyes and shove them."


	39. 39

"How do you feel, Doctor Fraiser?" River asked her, looking at her but also looking at the doctor who was checking Fraiser's vitals to make sure she was coming out of the tranquilized state as they'd expected her to.

"_Ooooh_, I'm feeling _pretty good_..." She smiled up at him, her hand coming up to cup his cheek, and a slightly dreamy expression on her face. "What happened?"

"Hayden shot you." Ian said.

"Shot me?"

"Yup."

"Is it bad?" She couldn't feel any pain – and she was pretty sure she would have if it were serious. But the doctor in her – the very doped up doctor in her – was telling her that even if it was bad, she could be on medication that would keep her from feeling any pain. She certainly _felt_ medicated.

"It was a tranquilizer gun," the medic told her.

"A _small_ one," River added.

Ian smirked.

She frowned.

"You shot me?"

"It was an accident."

"Do you need anything, Doctor Fraiser?" Ian asked her, remembering that Hammond had ordered he and his roommate to basically pamper Fraiser until she sent them away. "How about I fluff your pillow?"

"Do you even know _how_ to fluff a pillow?" River asked.

"How hard can it be?" Ian shrugged. "You take the pillow and... fluff it."

"Yeah? Prove it."

Ian reached down and pulled the pillow from under Fraiser's head – forgetting that she was actually _using_ that pillow – and whacked the pillow a few times as he'd seen done on TV.

"Moron..."

"What?"

"You let her head flop." River snatched the pillow back from Ian and put his hand under Fraiser's head to lift it up so he could tuck the pillow back under her. "What if she'd gotten whiplash or something?"

"Well, you could have shot her again and put her out of her misery for a while," Ian said.

"Why don't you go get Doctor Fraiser a glass of water?" The medic suggested.

"Yeah, Ian, get her some water."

"You get it. I'm going to tuck her in to make sure she's warm enough. Are you warm enough, Doctor Fraiser?"

"You shot me?" Janet asked again, frowning. She was beginning to wake up a little bit more as the drugs cleared her system – although it wasn't an instant thing.

"Not _me_," Ian told her, reaching down and pulling her blanket warmly up to her chin. "Hayden shot you."

"I want to tuck her in," River said, reaching for the blanket and practically pulling it off Fraiser. "_You_ get her some water."

"You _shot_ me?"

River flushed.

"It really was an accident, Doctor Fraiser. I got my finger trapped in the trigger guard and –"

"Wait a minute..." Janet suddenly sat up, pulling her blanket away from both cadets and glaring. "_You_ brought a gun into my infirmary...?"

"_Brooks_ did," River said, pointing at Ian, who scowled. "I'd _never_ bring a weapon into a hospital. Everyone knows that's dangerous."

"Hey, I brought it for you, you-"

"Both of you be quiet..." Janet rubbed her suddenly aching head. "Are either of you injured?"

They both shook their heads.

"No, ma'am."

"Then why are you in my infirmary?"

"Because General Hammond ordered us to stay with you until you woke up and take care of you."

"Take care of me how?"

Ian shrugged.

"No clue. I assumed it was fluffing your pillow and listening to compliments..."

"Compliments...?"

She frowned again, and vaguely remembered something about pretty eyes.

"Is there anything you need, Doctor Fraiser?" River asked – again.

"I need you two to get out of my infirmary."

"We're _supposed_ to take care of you." Ian said.

"I don't _need_ you to take care of me. I'm fine."

"But-"

"Out of my infirmary, both of you."

"But General Hammond said we-"

"You go find him and tell him I excused you."

She didn't need their help. She was fine. Besides, she was beginning to remember that she'd been thinking they were both good looking – or had it been cute? – and she couldn't remember if she'd said that aloud and if she had, then the last thing she wanted was for them to be in her infirmary. At least until she could remember what happened.

"We have your permission to leave, ma'am?" Ian asked, politely.

"I'm _ordering_ you to leave," She corrected – making sure they wouldn't find any reason to stay. "Go find General Hammond and tell him that if he ever-"She stopped, realizing that she was still not thinking completely straight and that if she told them to do something and they did it, it probably wouldn't be a good idea. "Just go. Someone must have something for you to do..."

"Yes, ma'am."

Ian looked at River and the two of them headed for the door of the infirmary.

"That was pretty smooth, Brooks." River said, slyly.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You goaded her into making us leave."

"Hey, I was trying to _help_ her... I didn't do anything that-"

"Bullshit. You made her want us out of there... clever."

Ian shrugged.

"Like anyone would want you hovering over them..." But he didn't admit to anything, and River was pretty sure he wouldn't.

"So... we go find General Hammond?"

"Or Colonel O'Neill... we need to know what they're going to do with us, now."

OOOOOOOOO

They didn't go find anyone. The minute they stepped out of the infirmary they were stopped by security personnel, who didn't know who the young men were, but they were pretty sure that they weren't allowed to go wandering through the corridors. When River told them – far more politely than Ian could have managed – that they were supposed to find General Hammond, the security men called around and found where Hammond was, and then escorted the two to the commissary.

OOOOOO

"Do I dare ask why the two of you are here and not in the infirmary where I specifically ordered you to be?" Hammond asked when the two walked over to where the General was still seated at the table that held everyone else – including Ian's father.

"Maybe they shot Fraiser again?" Daniel hazarded, ignoring the look Hammond flashed him at that particular statement.

"Doctor Fraiser's awake," River said – also ignoring the comment. "She _told_ us to leave."

"What?"

Ian shrugged.

"She told us to leave. I think we were annoying her."

"But I find that so hard to believe..." Jack said.


	40. 40

"Jack," Nathan held his hand out to O'Neill, who smiled and shook it. "It was truly a pleasure to see you again. You, too, George."

"Likewise, Nathan," Hammond said, smiling as well. "Are you sure you don't want to stay? I could put you up at my place..."

It was only a half hour or so after the cadets had joined the others, but already Nathan Brooks had decided it was time for him to get home. He had things to do, he told them, and his wife was probably waiting to hear what had happened – although he'd called her to let her know everything was fine and that Ian was safe. They were at the top of the elevator, now, and the senior Brooks was going to be driven to the Air Field by Hammond's Aide de Camp so he could fly his stolen jet home. As far as he knew, Colonel Piper was waiting for him there to fly home with him.

"I'd better not," Brooks said, smiling. "Maybe next time."

Hammond nodded.

"The offer's on the table any time."

Nathan turned to Ian.

"You _sure_ you don't want to come home with me? It'd be nice to spend Thanksgiving with you."

Ian scowled, and shook his head.

"You weren't going to spend it with me yesterday, why make new plans, now?"

"You _could_ come with us-"

"And be showcased? Thanks, but no thanks. I'll stay here."

"Son, it's not-"

"You'd better go, dad. Before you miss your ride."

There wasn't much danger of that happening, but Nathan nodded, his blue eyes flashing in irritation. As everyone else looked on, none of them could miss the fact that for all their differences in coloring, Ian and Nathan Brooks looked identical at that moment. Both angry, and both unweilding.

"I'll tell your mother you couldn't come."

"Tell her I love her."

Nathan nodded, just a little of the hardness in his eyes fading – but not much. He turned to the others, and gave Sam his hand.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Samantha."

"You, too, Nathan."

He smiled, but the smile faded slightly when he looked at Ian one last time. He nodded farewell to the others and turned and headed for the door that led out of the mountain.

River jabbed Ian in the ribs, and the cadet scowled, looking over at him.

"What?"

"He's your _father_, you stupid sonofabitch – go say goodbye. And use your 'we have company' voice and vocabulary, okay?"

Ian sighed, and rubbed his ribs for a moment, his dark eyes thoughtful as he watched Nathan's retreating form.

"I'll be right back."

He trotted after his dad, and the rest of them looked at each other.

"Shall we go check on Fraiser?" Jack asked, breaking an uncomfortable silence.

"Uh..." River didn't actually say he didn't want to do that, but it was obvious he was fairly reluctant to return to the infirmary he'd been so recently kicked out of. "Maybe we could... um... go do something else?"

Sam smiled, and looked at Hammond.

"I could give you the three dollar tour," she said, waiting for Hammond's reaction.

The General nodded.

"Nothing too specific – and keep them out of the embarkation room. I'm not ready to risk any of them in my gate room. They're not recruits here, yet."

Obviously, he expected Sam to take Ian on the tour as well, which was fine with her. She looked over and saw Ian handing something to his father – although from the distance she couldn't tell what it was. Nathan stuffed whatever it was into his pants, but before Sam could wonder what it was, River spoke up.

"I'm not _going_ to be a recruit, here, General," the cadet said, off-hand.

"What?" This was from Shawn, who was looking at River as if he'd just refused to go through Heaven's pearly gates. "What do you mean?"

River smiled at the various surprised looks and expressions – although Teal'c didn't show any emotions at all, and shrugged.

"I told you, Shawn; I joined the Air Force to become a _pilot_. I'm not going to be able to fly an F-16 if I'm working inside a mountain. Goose and Maverick never lived in a hill."

Jack smiled, his brown eyes amused. The guy knew what he wanted, and that was a good thing – but he was definitely wrong about the options he had. He was in on some of the secrets of the base, after all – he might as well learn a few more. O'Neill looked at Hammond, who understood what Jack was asking with that look, and nodded.

"Well, Cadet Hayden," Jack said, reaching out and putting his hand on the young man's shoulder. "Suppose I told you that we have access to some of the wildest, fastest, most dangerous air craft in the universe, right here inside this mountain?"

"I'd say you were full of shit."

River blanched, realizing that he'd just borrowed Ian's second favorite phrase and had used it in front of people he definitely shouldn't have used it in front of. He saw Sam O'Neill grin, and even Hammond couldn't help but snort softly in amusement.

"Of course... I'd probably get in trouble for the whole full of shit thing... so I'd say I didn't believe you..." he added lamely.

"Well, you'd be _wrong_." Jack was interrupted by Ian, who came trotting over to them, looking as if he was in a much better mood than he had been only minutes before. "I just happen to know where we can find a couple of craft that might some day be right up your alley – if you're interested?"

"Airplanes?" River asked.

"Oh, no." Sam said, shaking her head. "Much faster, and you've never seen Maverick and Goose in the cockpit of one of these."

"And you _never_ will," Teal'c added.

"You'll have to work your ass off, of course," Jack said, "But we'll show them to you, and if you decide that's what you want to do, then I'll teach you how to fly them."

"Sounds interesting," River said, his grin practically splitting his face. "How about it, Ian?"

Brooks shook his head, scowling.

"I'm not flying with you, Hayden. I don't _like_ to fly – and I certainly wouldn't trust you not to crash us. You can't even get out of bed without cracking your head open, remember?"

Shawn laughed, and River shrugged.

"Your loss, then."

"What _do_ you want to do when you get out of the academy, Ian?" Sam asked, curiously.

Ian shrugged.

"No clue. I have a few years to decide, though, and I'm not in any hurry."

It was Jack's turn to shrug.

"We could probably find something for you to do around here, you know? Something that a young man such as yourself might enjoy – maybe even excel at."

"Yeah?" Ian didn't look convinced, but he was well aware he didn't know everything that went on here – not after only a few hours at the base. "Like what?"

"You'll see..."

**The End!**

_Author's Note: So! There you go. River and Ian are in on the secret, Kinsey got what was coming to him, and things are moving forward. Tell me what you liked about this story – and what didn't (aside from my little grammatical errors) and your favorite line – if any._

_Oh, and don't worry... Thanksgiving is coming and I didn't forget about it... that will be the next story – I just didn't think it had a place in this one... I'll give it its own._


End file.
